


Two Sides of the Same Coin

by LadyManta



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien is a Mess, Canon-Typical Violence, Dorks in Love, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Happy Ending, Marinette knows what she wants, Mutual Pining, SO MUCH FLUFF, dorks being dorks, slight suggestive themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:07:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 48,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27824248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyManta/pseuds/LadyManta
Summary: After a harsh argument between Ladybug and Chat Noir, Adrien is left rejected and alone. But then Marinette bulldozes her way into his life, bringing a lifeline in the form of companionship, and Adrien can only hang on as he starts to see Marinette in an entirely different light.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 122
Kudos: 173





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first Ladybug story! I am very happy and pleased to finally post something in the fandom. I tried by best to keep everyone in character while taking some artistic liberty. This is also not betad, so if you catch any mistakes please forgive me!
> 
> I hope you all enjoy my story. Please let me know what you think!

Chat landed with a thump on the roof of the abandoned warehouse he finally managed to find. The concrete around him was wet and slippery. The sky was blackened deep grey, rain pouring down so hard he felt it through his leather armor. Magical green cat eyes surveyed the area looking for someone, a hero clad in red and black spots. 

“Ladybug!” he shouted, calling for his partner. 

There was no response. He wondered if she could even hear him. The falling rain landed on the roof with a deafening roar, the echoing sounds of water meeting metal the only thing he could hear. He stepped forward cautiously, cat ears swiveling back and forth in an attempt to catch any noise outside of heavy rain. 

“Ladybug!!” he shouted again. He expected silence again and almost jumped when he got an answer. 

“Chat?” a feminine voice broke through the rain and Chat whirled around, catching Ladybug ascend from inside the warehouse. She pushed the lid of the doorway backward and continued up the stairs, not caring about noise as the lid slammed back on the concrete ground. 

“Finally, I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Chat exclaimed. It had been a few months since Chloe’s akumatization. The city had recovered since then and his friends were finally left alone, no longer hounded by reporters and newscasters. In that time he had seen Ladybug barely a handful of times. Each time she had arrived and left without a word to him, beating down the akumas with a ferocity she had never displayed before. Chat had a feeling something had happened after Miracle Queen, but she always left before he got the chance to talk to her. He gave her time to come to him. But three months later, he decided to go find her. And hopefully some answers. 

“Ladybug?” he questioned, tilting his head warily when he saw her closed off expression. He took a step forward, then froze when Ladybug took a step back. 

“Why are you here?” Ladybug asked, her voice neutral and controlled. 

Chat blinked, “W-why am I here? Ladybug, you haven't talked to me in months. I know things were bad after Miracle Queen, but I want to check up on you, see how you were doing and if you needed help.”

“I don’t need your help Chat.” Ladybug said, though this time there was more emotion to her voice. She sounded frustrated. Why would she be frustrated? 

“Of course you need my help. It’s what I’m here for!” Chat said, a little offended and so confused. It was Ladybug and Chat Noir, they were partners! Just because they lost some heroes didn’t mean they had to lose each other too. 

Ladybug narrowed her eyes at him and he thought maybe that was the wrong thing to say. 

“I don’t need your help Chat, I’ve never needed your help. I’m fine doing this on my own! I’m fine!” she cried out, stomping a covered foot on the ground. The rainwater splashed around her, dirtying her pretty armor. 

There was something bothering Ladybug, but she didn’t want to talk to him about it. And he didn’t understand why. They were always able to talk, openly and freely. Maybe not about their civilian identities, but about the stress and troubles that came with being a hero. He understood her struggles, just like how she understood his. So Chat was beyond confused, not understanding why she refused to talk to him. 

“Ladybug… what’s going on? I can’t understand what’s going on if you don’t tell me.” he said softly, pleadingly. Maybe with some explanations, he could handle this situation better. But Ladybug shut down, crossing her arms under her chest and glaring heatedly at him. 

“Leave Chat.” Ladybug said instead, staring him down. 

“Ladybug! I don’t understand!” he shouted frantically and Ladybug scowled, face twisted with anger. 

“What’s not to understand! I said leave! You’re always like this, so persistent and bothersome! It’s pissed me off before and it's pissing me off now! Leave! Leave! Just leave me ALONE!” she screamed. 

“I won’t leave you alone my lady. I love you too much to leave you to deal with whatever this is!” he shouted back. 

She let out a bark of bitter laughter, “I’m gonna say this for the last time. I don’t love you Chat! How many times do I have to say it before you finally understand?! I’ll never love you, never! So leave! Leave me alone and go find someone else and be happy and just LEAVE!”

Chat’s heart stopped in his chest. Ladybug had never rejected him this way, never sounded so angry and scared. He wasn’t sure what to do. He could continue to fight for his lady and try to force her to talk to him. But his instincts told him that would backfire on him and make the situation even more. More so, the look in her eyes showed him that she truly didn’t want him there, that she wanted him gone and out of her life. It hurt, more than he had ever been hurt before. After everything they had been through together, to be cast aside like a stray was the worst feeling of them all. His hands, laying limp on his side, curled into twin fists as his own anger surged forward. 

“Fine. I’ll go. You’ve never needed me anyways. Always so perfect and independent, you never needed anyone,” Chat growled.

Ladybug curled into herself, as if his compliments physically hurt her. And his heart ached to comfort her, even in the midst of his own anger. Ladybug always shouldered too much, held in too much. 

He took a deep, shuddering breath, “But still, even if you don’t love me or need me, I'll be here for you my lady. I’ll always be here for you. I promise.” Chat stared at his partner, who had always given him a place he could call home. Ladybug didn’t reply, only continued to glare at the rain covered roof. He waited a beat, praying that she would change her mind, fly into his arms and let him comfort. Then she lifted her head and nodded once, before turning away without a word. He clenched his jaw tight, watching her descend down the ladder to go into the building. And in seconds, Chat was alone, water dripping from his shaggy hair and fangs biting his lip so hard it pierced his skin. 

He sprinted away, bounding through the rooftops and not even trying to be quiet. He was glad it was raining, the water providing the perfect cover to hide his tears. 

**-**

_ One year later _

Chat Noir leapt through the rooftops of Paris, using his baton to take him higher and faster to the battle currently underway. His ears picked up the sound of a loud crash, metal on concrete, and he winced, pushing himself harder to get there. He had been outside the city doing a photoshoot when he got Ladybug’s message that an akuma was loose. It took him precious minutes to convince Natalie he needed a break and lock the door to his dresser before he transformed. His heart clenched when he heard the Akuma scream and more battle sounds, something hard slamming into the pavement. He prayed Ladybug was alright, even though he knew she was more than capable of protecting herself. 

Chat ran through a rooftop garden, accidentally crushing a garden bed full of peonies under his heavy boots. He winced at the destruction he left behind. At least the Miraculous cure would fix his unwarranted destruction. He reached the end of the roof and pivoted to the right. He jumped high in the air, using his baton for leverage and caught a glimpse of the battle nearby along with a small figure covered in red and black spots. Without delay, he used his baton to helicopter down to the battlefield and landed solidly next to Ladybug on the street. She was out of breath, but reasonably alright save for a red mark on her cheek. She looked frustrated and pissed off, but relieved once she saw Chat arrive. 

“Chat!” Ladybug cried out, turning to look at him and quickly looking back at the enemy. There was a large object headed their way and Chat grabbed Ladybug by her waist, dodging to the side before they were crushed. He looked at the weapon of choice. 

“A giant calculator?!” he shouted, realizing he really shouldn’t be that surprised at almost being crushed by a ginormous TI-83. Chat held Ladybug tight, leaping up through the a series of balconies to reach the roofs, dodging rulers, protractors, even a stray highlighter. 

_ This is getting a little out of hand! _ he thought, just barely avoiding a pair of deadly looking scissors. They pierced through the wall of the apartment complex and he winced, praying no one was home. Chat leapt up and landed on the shingles, stopping behind a cluster of exhaust vents to get his bearings when Ladybug spoke, “She calls herself Mathitician. I don’t know what caused her to akumatize, but she keeps yelling about ungrateful kids not appreciating the wonders of mathematics.” Ladybug rolled her eyes. Chat snickered at her sarcastic tone. 

“Do you know where her akuma is?” Chat asked, praying it was somewhere simple. 

Ladybug tapped her fingers on his arm, signaling her desire to be put down. Chat tightened his grip a fraction before reluctantly complying. 

“I think it's the textbook in her hands. She’s been using it to summon and send out the projectiles that you saw. She was also able to send out numbers? It was super weird.”

“Weirder than any other akuma attack we’ve seen?” Chat said, twirling his baton in his hands. They had seen their fair share of weird akumas working as the saviors of Paris. 

Ladybug shrugged, “I’ve noticed that if the numbers hit someone, they freeze. Not permanently, it just lasts for the amount of time the number was in seconds. But it compounds and can last for as long as she wants,” Ladybug finished, a warning in her tone. 

Chat stilled at that piece of information, “That’s...terrible.” 

Ladybug raised an eyebrow, frowned and then made a noise of agreement. It was a dangerous power and she sounded unsure how to deal with it other than not to get hit. It was fascinating how the miraculous powers worked sometimes.

Chat reached out, touching the mark on her cheek gently. He felt guilty, knowing he wasn’t there to take the hit for her. She looked at him, giving him a small smile. 

“I’m ok chat,” she said and he caressed the mark with his thumb for a second longer before letting go. She started to worry her lip with her teeth, a sign of her concentration. They needed to think of a plan. So he knew he shouldn’t get distracted by it, but he couldn’t help it. Like a moth to a flame, he stared at her lips warmth curling in his chest. He quickly looked away when she opened her mouth to speak, trying his best to hold back his flush. 

“I think this  _ time _ , the straightforward approach is best,” Chat whipped his head towards her, gaping. 

_ Did she just-? _

Ladybug winked and grabbed her yoyo, “Keep her distracted and get me an opening. I’ll use my yoyo to bind her and once I have her tied up, destroy the book.” 

Short and simple. They’ve been hunting akumas for so long that sometimes simple worked best. 

Ladybug nodded at Chat and took off running, swinging down back to Mathitician. Chat, still in a state of shock at her  _ deliberate _ pun, took out his baton. He wasn’t too good at making plans, but distractions and destruction? That he could totally do. Chat ran down the opposite end of the building and leapt back into the fray. He noticed they were on the street that led to The Arc de Triomphe. His grin was feral as the idea formulated in his head. 

“Hey!” he yelled, landing on top of an overturned car. Mathitician spun towards him, scowl in place. “Why was the Mathitician so sad? Because it had a lot of problems!” Chat dodged the upcoming attack, laughing at his joke. He could practically feel Ladybug’s eyeroll and it made him laugh harder. 

So it began, his barrage of math jokes and insults, her onslaught of math related weapons and tools. She was dangerously fast, flinging items at him at a rapid speed. He barely dodged the sharp end of a ruler, watched as it cut a light pole in half. He decided to move a lot quicker after that. Most Akumas he fought fangs to face, parrying blow after blow with his baton and fists. However he worried the sharp edges of her weapons would slice his baton, and thus himself, clean into pieces. He preferred to stay whole thank you very much.

“GIVE ME YOUR MIRACULOUS!” Mathitician howled, summoning numbers over her head. Chat yelped, pitching to the side as a huge 4 hit the ground and dissolved. He needed to guide her closer to the arc, but she was wickedly quick and Chat found himself being guided by her for that moment. 

_ Focus Chat!  _ he told himself, looking around for an opening. He wondered where Ladybug was hiding and just managed to dodge a massive 8 and 3 before her numerical onslaught ended abruptly. Not wasting any time, he gave Mathitician a look he hoped screamed ‘come and get me’ rather than ‘please don’t cut me in halve with a ruler’ and bolted. He sprinted down the main street towards the Arc, careful not to look back too many times at the havoc Mathitician was currently undoing in his city. He jumped over overturned cars and crowds of cowering civilians, running faster than ever before. Soon he arrived at his destination, the Arc de Triomphe looming proudly over the Paris roundabout. 

“I DEMAND your MIRACULOUS!” Mathitician screamed, shooting a no.2 pencil towards him. He quickly backflipped towards the center of the arc, watching the pencil imbed itself several feet into the street. Chat shuddered, imagining what a skewered cat looked like. It wasn’t a pretty image. 

Chat ran backwards, getting closer to the center of the arc, keeping his eyes focused on the book in the akuma’s hands. He knew his lady would do her part, he just needed to complete his. Mathitician surged forward, a scowl on her unnatural face and Chat smirked seeing his chance. 

“How acute of you, but I think you mean give me your akuma!” Chat pounced, delivering a roundhouse kick that sent her flying towards the wall of the monument. She slammed hard, bouncing off the wall. That was the great thing about the long ranged akumas. Once he got past their defenses, they went down fast. The book fell from her hands and landed on the floor with a heavy thud. Chat waited, watched as Mathitician got up, shaking the dust from her body. Then, right as she was about to attack again, she realized she lost her grip of her possession. Her eyes widened and right on time, Ladybug swung in and launched her yoyo. The strings wrapped themselves around Mathitician's body. Strong as steel, Mathitician stood no chance against Ladybug’s web. He ran forward, aiming straight for the glowing collection of papers discarded on the floor.

“Cataclysm!” he called for his power, slamming the destructive energy into the textbook. It disintegrated into nothing and he watched the black butterfly slowly fly away. 

There was a clasp of a yoyo, a white butterfly fluttering away and a miraculous call before their battle came to an end. 

Ladybug grinned, watching the white butterfly fly calmly through the skies. She put her fist out, ready for their traditional salute. 

“Pound it!” Ladybug beamed at him, face glowing. Chat hesitated for a moment, stricken by the sight. How much time had passed since he saw a genuine smile on Ladybug’s lips. It made his heart swell and his insides turn to knots, making him giddy. 

He bumped fists quickly, smiling widely at her and turned away towards the young woman kneeling on the floor. His cheeks felt warm at seeing Ladybug’s smile and he knew he was flushed pink. He reached the victim, who appeared to be in her mid twenties, with red hair and fair skin. He wondered what happened to cause such an intense mix of emotions that led to her akumatization. As he stepped towards her, his ring gave its first warning first beep. 

Chat groaned internally, cursing his bad luck. 

“Ladybug…” Chat turned towards his partner, clenching his hands into fists. He knew he needed to leave, preferably sooner rather than later, but he couldn’t remember the last time he had seen that smile. He wanted to take the chance to talk with her, ask how her day went, what she was up to, how she was dealing, everything. But Ladybug didn’t want that anymore. He saw her smile slowly start to disappear and he felt entirely helpless. Chat bit his tongue. 

“I’ll see you around Chaton,” the sad dismissal crushed him, as did his beloved nickname. He had hoped, with all his heart, that she missed him as much as he missed her. It was wistful thinking, but he still hoped. He gave her one last, long look then nodded and left. 

As he ran through the streets, he thought the feeling of rejection would be easier to handle over time, that he would feel less like he was drowning in his sorrow. He scolded himself for the tears that pricked the corners of his green eyes. He had to be strong, if not for himself then for his lady. He had made a promise to her and he was determined to keep it. Ah, but if only she could share a little luck with her desolate and lonely cat. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to those who commented, left kudos and read this story! I appreciate you so much! 
> 
> My favorite headcannon is Adrien turning into a mess once he realizes he has a crush on Marinette (because of course, she's just that awesome) so you're gonna see a lot of him being an adorable dork. Brief note: the gang is between 17 and 18 years old. And yes, Hawkmoth is still a pain in the butt, but neither him nor Gabriel have a lot of screen time. Just small parts of how much of a terrible dad he is lol 
> 
> Enjoy!

The time that passed after his final argument with Ladybug tore at him for months. He tried to analyze every second of that time, to see where he went wrong. Maybe if he found her sooner? Maybe if he had approached her after Chloe was saved? Maybe, maybe, so many maybes. He felt awful having left her behind in the rain, worried about the stress she must be under. Even so, he was a little angry. He was hurt by the things she had said, frustrated by the manner in which she pushed him away. What was the point of being partners if she didn’t allow him to be there for her when it mattered most? The conflicting feelings he felt disoriented him more often than not. It also didn’t lessen the blow that Ladybug didn’t want him around anymore outside of akuma battles.  __

His civilian life wasn’t great either. Kagami and him lasted three months before calling it quits. In those three months he learned two things. You can’t force love and he was (still is) unbelievably socially inept. They had good days when they chatted and learned more about each other. But the awkward days were more commonplace. Kagami was an amazing person, sharp as a blade and confident to levels he aspired to. But, she had expectations that he couldn’t meet and in the end, they mutually decided they weren’t as compatible as they initially thought. 

So he failed his lady and he failed Kagami and he was just miserable. He went through his days in a haze. School, fencing, photoshoots, sleep, rinse and repeat. The breaks in between caused by Akumas were still there. Ladybug still spoke to him during battle, but her tone was always professional and she left as soon as the akuma was purified and the victim tended to. There were no more puns, jokes, or camaraderie, just a no nonsense attitude and somber composure. It was really rough at first until they found a new rhythm that worked, but it didn’t have the same cohesion as before. They got hurt quite a few times in the beginning because of it. 

The battle with Mathitician was the first time they had ever gotten close to how they used to be, but it still wasn’t quite there. He had promised to be there for her always, but how could he do that with the constant reminder of the distance between them? In either case, he preferred their distance over the crushing hopeful expectation when he saw her smile. Maybe she was finally moving on and hopefully coming closer to letting him in. He promised himself he would not push her, he would let her come to him when she was ready. The wait was agonizingly long. 

One good thing did happen to him. Seemingly out of nowhere, Marinette had started to talk to him. And not just ‘hello’ and ‘good morning’. She asked for his number to text him and talk. She scheduled group hangouts, including Alya and Nino. At first he had tried to get away by claiming he had his job to go to, but she was stubborn and refused to give in. She planned around each of his fencing and model work, aiming for every second of free time he had. She even bartered with his father, somehow managing to convince him to twist his schedule around to get more free time. He was absolutely floored the first time it had happened. 

So they all hung out, getting ice cream at Andre’s, at the café around the corner, in the park, near the Seine, at the arcane and more. He had been out more in the past few months than probably his entire life. Sometimes it was just her and him. In her room playing UMS III, at the plaza people gazing and talking about random things. Slowly, but surely, Marinette unexpectedly wiggled her way into his life and he found that as time passed, he was feeling less and less lonely. She was the perfect distraction. 

When he had asked her why she approached him after she finished wrecking him during a brutal round of UMS III, she had shrugged, telling him nonchalantly that he looked like he needed a friend. He blinked at her and his heart swelled, grateful that she had bulldozed her way into his life. 

He saw many new sides to Marinette in the months they spent getting to know each other. He learned she was sarcastic, sassy and a bit of a mess. He learned she liked her cocoa with marshmallows and she loved romance and animated movies. He got the chance to learn about her likes and dislikes, her favorite color (pink) and her favorite singer (Jagged Stone) and a whole slew of other things he never would have thought he would have known. They became closer friends than ever before. 

As Adrien‘s private car pulled up to the front of his school, a bit earlier than usual, he was thinking of Marinette and how well their friendship grew over time. Slamming the car door shut, he shrugged his backpack up higher on his shoulder. He was tired, having only gotten a few hours of sleep last night after they came late from a shoot. But the last minute obligation was worth the reward. Today he was going bowling for the first time! He reached the steps to the front of the building, feeling giddy and excited. Nino and Alya were standing close by, having a whispered conversation. His cat-like curiosity got the better of him and he discretely walked a bit closer to hear. 

“...I know Nino, but this is her chance!” Alya whispered hotly, fists pumping in the air.

“You promised Alya,” Nino retorted, clearly upset over something she must have said earlier. 

“Ugh I know! But I just want her to be happy!” Alya said, crossing her arms over her chest. 

Adrien suddenly felt like he was intruding on something he shouldn’t. He made a show of ‘accidently’ dropping his bag, spilling its contents all over the ground.

“Crap!” he shouted, a little exaggerated. The duo whipped their heads towards him and he almost snorted. They were pretty bad at this spy game. 

“Bro! You alright?” he saw Nino walk over and started to help pick up his things.

“Hey Nino. Yea, I’m ok. Just lost my grip on the strap!” Adrien said, laughing nervously. Now he was the bad one at this spy game, that excuse was as lame as they come. 

“Uh-huh.” Alya said. He just shrugged. 

They finally got everything stuffed back in his bag and together, they headed towards the school.

“Are we still on for tonight?” Adrien asked. He was a little worried their argument had something to do with tonight’s plan. Luckily, Nino put those fears to rest.

“Heck yea!” he turned to his girlfriend, who still looked a bit despondent. “You ready to get your ass handed to you?”

Alya was silent a moment, then breathed out heavily. She smirked, putting a hand on her hip.

“As if Lahiffe. You’re going down!” she taunted, giving them both a good natured glare. Adrien smiled. 

The bell rang its first warning. He rearranged his bag over his shoulder and following behind the duo, he realized they were missing someone. 

“Where’s Marinette?” Adrien asked, looking around. Marinette had arrived on time for almost a week straight. It was a new record and he was looking forward to congratulating her. 

Alya looked back at Adrien. Her grin was mischievous, “Worried Agreste?” 

Adrien tried not to blush under her stare. He failed big time. “I was just wondering where she was. She only had one more day to beat her record.” 

Alya snickered, but relented. “She stayed up too late working on her commissions and missed her alarm. She’ll be in soon.” 

Marinette definitely found her calling with fashion design. To help build her portfolio, and fund her very expensive hobby, she started an online boutique selling ladies casual wear and accessories. She spent a majority of her time now in her room or in a fabric store. Though they managed to lure her out with promises of sweets and fun times on occasion. He remembered the last time he was over and she showed him the outfit she was working on for a client. A rose colored lacy blouse with long open sleeves and cinched at the waist. It complimented the light blue jeans she also made. To say he was proud of his friend was an understatement. Though the best part was when she modeled for him, her test clothes were measured for her body and they formed to every curve in just the right way. 

Adrien frowned. He had to stop doing that, thinking of Marinette like that. She was a close friend and it wasn’t right to let his imagination run wild with dangerous thoughts of red skirts and pink lips. Adrien groaned again, wishing he was next to a wall so he could bang his head on it. Maybe he’ll knock himself unconscious and give himself short term amnesia, forget all about the strange, but not really unwanted, growing feelings he had for his best friend. 

He was at least smart enough to understand how anyone could fall for Marinette. She was indescribable, but he refused to take advantage of her kindness. The young woman who approached him all the months ago to offer him a lifeline in the form of companionship. She would never know just how much he needed her back then or how she saved him. He couldn’t do that to Marinette, couldn’t weigh her down with his silly emotions. She didn’t even like him like that anyways! 

Alya kept hinting, by making inappropriate jokes and  hopeful suggestions, that Marinette had a crush on him. She must have been seeing things or poking fun at him. He felt it was more the latter. He would have noticed if Marinette liked him that way and she didn’t. They were just really good friends. 

The trio made it to class before the bell rang. Some of their classmates had already arrived; Alix and Kim were arguing about who knows what, Nathaniel was in his seat pen in hand and notebook out and Juleka and Rose were conversing quietly with each other. The day they revealed their relationship absolutely no one was shocked and he was happy that they found love in each other. He also tried really hard not to be jealous. 

Adrien slumped into his seat at the front, putting his bag on his desk and laying his head down. The straps of his pack pressed into his face. He knew they would cause deep, red marks, but that was the last thing he was worried about now. They had a few more minutes before class started and he just wanted to sleep. He heard Ms. Bustier’s cheerful voice as she entered the room, greeting the students warmly. He heard more students walk in, heard Chloe call for him and noticing him ‘sleeping’, walked to her desk. 

The bell rang, signaling the day’s beginning. Then he heard Marinette’s sprint through the hallways before she dashed into the room, almost running into Ms. Bustier. He looked up from his bag to see Marinette hanging on to the door frame, out of breath. She must have ran the whole way here. 

“Marinette, good morning. I’ll give you today as the bell just ran. Please take your seat.” Ms. Bustier said, smiling gently at Marinette. Often enough she said she didn’t have favorites, but he was sure Marinette was her favorite. 

Marinette greeted their homeroom professor, blushing at making such an entrance. She ducked through the front towards her chair and stopped next to him. Adrien opened his mouth to say hello, then stopped. She was a little sweaty and panting heavily, but she sent him a smile that was brighter than the sun. She wore a little makeup today. Her eyeliner accented her eyes just right and she had a little more color to her cheekbones. She was flushed, cheeks pink and bright. She didn’t look any different that usual, but Adrien was still struck dumb at how insanely pretty she was. He forced himself to focus on her blue eyes and not her lips, which definitely did not have glistening, glittery pink gloss. 

“Good morning Adrien!” she sang to him. And of course he, because he was an awkward mess who was starting to realize just how attracted he was to his very good friend, responded in the most awkward way possible. 

“Morning good Marinette!” he shouted, voice raising an octave too high to be considered decent. The chatter in the class dimmed at his volume and heads turned in his direction. He swore he could hear Plagg’s cackle from his shirt pocket. 

_ Somebody, please kill me.  _ he thought to himself. Preferably now, at this very second. His face turned red as cherries. He corrected his greeting quickly before slamming his face back into his backpack. He decided to take up his earlier offer to knock himself out on the classroom table. A small noise made him stiffen. He chanced a look to his left. Nino’s raised eyebrow and grin told him two things. One, he was definitely getting interrogated during lunch and two, he was totally, irrevocably screwed. 

-

Lunch period arrived and right as they reached the lunchroom, true to his non spoken word, Nino started digging right in.

“Dude.” Nino started, wild grin and teasing tone raring to go. “What even was that?” 

Adrien refused to look at him. The memory of his disastrous morning was still too fresh. If he looked at his best bro, he would turn into a tomato. 

“It was nothing.” Adrien lied, shrugging his pack firmer onto his shoulder. They reached the line to grab their meals and Adrien rushed to grab his food. A chicken salad and some fruit. He glanced longingly at the display of pastries. Nino quickly joined him, too excited to pay attention to what he was grabbing, “I didn’t sleep well last night. Just tired is all.” 

Nino raised his eyebrow, “Reeeeally?”

Adrien didn’t respond to the obvious taunt. Instead he paid and headed straight towards their spot without waiting. Nino and him had been friends for too long to worry about niceties. He heard Nino laugh as he ran to catch up.

“Come on dude. That wasn’t nothing,” Nino said.

“Lay off Nino,” Adrien said, now feeling a little exasperated. He didn’t want to get frustrated at his friend, but something about Nino’s teasing was starting to rub him the wrong way. Maybe he just didn’t want to admit that in the end, Nino was right.

“Whoa, what’s up with you man?” Nino said warily, reaching their table. Alya and Marinette were already there, chatting amicably about their hangout plans after school. He gave Nino a look that said, ‘I’m fine. Stop worrying and don’t say a word!’. It was a reassurance and a threat at the same time. Nino rolled his eyes, not at all scared by Adrien’s threat. They had repeatedly called him ‘a literal ball of sunshine’, so he figured his threat probably meant nothing to the young boy, but Nino thankfully didn’t say another word. 

“Hey guys!” Alya said happily, “Are you ready for bowling tonight?” 

“Hell yea!” Nino exclaimed.

“Yes!” Marinette shouted, equally excited. Adrien felt butterflies (the good kind) in his stomach when he sat next to Marinette. Usually he sat next to Nino, facing the young fashion designer. However today Alya was seated across from Marinette, leaving the spot next to her for Nino and the spot next to Marinette for him. He chanced a look at Alya and saw her evil smirk. 

_ Sneaky devil,  _ Adrien grumbled. 

“Adrien?” Marinette called to him. Adrien sprang out of his inner thoughts and turned to Marinette. 

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” he asked. He saw her narrow her eyes, looking at him closely. He fought hard not to sweat under her gaze. 

“You ok?” she asked finally.

Adrien nodded his head rapidly, “Yes! Yes, I’m fine! Just didn’t sleep well!”

_ Get a grip Agreste! _

_ “ _ Anyways, what did you say earlier?” he asked, desperate to change the topic. Marinette took his bait. 

“I asked if you have ever bowled before,” Marinette repeated herself. She grabbed her juice, a concoction of lemon, strawberry and mint, and took a sip from her straw. He whipped his head away as naughty images invaded his brain. Hey, he was a 17, soon to be 18, year old male sitting next to a  _ very _ beautiful female. Sue him. 

Adrien shook his head, “I haven't! I’m really excited.” 

He really was excited. Not just because he was going bowling, but because he was going bowling with  _ friends.  _ A big difference in his opinion. 

“You’re gonna get wrecked Agreste,” Alya taunted him, punching her fist into her other hand. Adrien gave her a look that said ‘bring it on!’, giving her the universal thumb’s down for ‘you’re going down!’. 

They all laughed. This was the best life. Sitting with his friends, eating and having a great time together. He wished this would never end. 

“How was last night’s shoot?” Marinette asked once they settled down. 

Adrien groaned, “Exhausting.” The new fall line was coming up and things were usually hectic in the months leading up to it. He cringed remembering the strange outfit he wore a couple nights ago. He hoped he never had to wear that much poof again. 

“At least it’s over?” Alya said, attempting to console him. It didn’t work. Adrien snorted. 

“As if. I have two more tomorrow, then one almost every night for the next two weeks,” he said solemnly. 

The rest of the table collectively winced. 

“Jeez bro, your dad works you harder than a mule,” Nino said grumpily. He was angry on his bro’s behalf, for his bro who didn’t have the freedom to be angry. Adrien’s swooned at the bro-love between them.

“Yea, but soon I’ll be 18 and then I’ll be free!” Adrien shouted. He was so close to the end he could taste it. Everyone joined in, whooping and hollering. 

“You’re gonna move out right?” Alya asked. 

“Maybe not right away, but yeah,” Adrien answered. He did want to move, but he hesitated whenever he thought of his father all alone in that giant house. He justified it by knowing his father probably preferred things that way, but in the end they only had each other. Still, the thought of his own place with his own things that HE bought with his own hands? It was too good to be true. 

“We’ll throw you the biggest housewarming party in all of Paris!” Marinette exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “We’ll invite all our friends and party all night long!”

“That sounds amazing Marinette. I already know what’s going to be the first thing I’ll get,” Adrien said. 

“What’s that?” she asked. 

“A black cat,” Adrien grinned. His grin grew wider at her groan. 

“You are seriously obsessed, you know that?” Marinette teased. Everyone thought Adrien’s love for the leather clad hero of Paris was just hero-worship. They didn’t know that it was more Adrien-worship. The joys of secret identities. 

He took pleasure at Marinette’s reactions too, although most times she was strangely quiet whenever the hero topic was brought up, not saying much when the topic whenever they talked about Chat Noir. He wasn’t sure why, he hadn’t visited her in a while as Chat Noir. 

Hmmm… maybe his princess missed him. Now he definitely needed to see her soon. 

They chatted for a bit longer before time ran out and they headed towards class. As they walked back, Nino and Alya walked ahead hand in hand.

“I’m really excited you’re coming tonight Adrien. I won’t be the only third wheel!” Marinette whispered to him, not wanting to be heard by the couple in front. 

“I understand how you feel. We’ll just be third wheels together then,” Adrien snickered, leaning down closer to her. She giggled quietly and the teasing look she gave him was so strikingly familiar it gave him pause. Not for the first time, he wondered at the similarities between Marinette and Ladybug. It was probably all in his head, wanting Marinette to be Ladybug. It would be a fantasy too good to be true, even if it wasn’t fair to Marinette. Still, to be that lucky...

As they walked to class he looked at his friend’s joined hands and he vaguely wondered how Marinette's hands would feel in his. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Thank you all for your wonderful comments. I'm back with more dorks falling in love lol
> 
> My headcanon is that Marinette would be a BEAST at bowling. Have you seen the way she throws that yoyo? And anything else she has in her hands? Not to mention the ACCURACY?! I'm just saying, she should totally join a pro league team lol

School finally ended and even sleep deprived, Adrien felt the rush of excitement as the last bell rang. He started to put away his things, waiting for the majority of the class to leave, before turning to the group.  Marinette and Alya were already plotting ways to beat them. He had never seen Alya play and knew Marinette was adorably clumsy, so he wasn’t worried. Little did they know that yes, he had never been bowling, but that didn’t mean he didn’t know HOW to bowl. He bumped fists with Nino, already knowing they were going to crush it tonight. 

They all walked out together, teasing each other until Chloe’s voice cut through the air. 

“Adrikins!!!” she screamed, running towards him. She attached herself to his arm, roughly shoving Marinette to the side. Marinette landed with an oof on Nino, his hands holding her arms to stop her from falling. 

Adrien sighed, “Hi Chloe.” 

He knew this was going to happen sooner or later. He had been so busy lately he hadn't talked to the young heiress and she could only be ignored for so long. 

“I’ve been so lonely Adrikins! We haven't talked in weeks!” she pouted, rubbing her head on his shoulder. Adrien tried to gently pry his arm away. 

“I know Clo. I'm sorry, but you know how it gets,” he said consolingly. 

“That’s no excuse Adrien!” she raised her head and glared at him. He sighed again. 

“Chloe, back off,” Marinette cut in. She was pissed, glaring outright at Chloe, hands on her hips. Chloe gave her a withering look. 

“You back off! Don’t think I haven't noticed you all over him!” Chloe cried out. She dug her hands deeper into Adrien’s arm and Adrien tried not to wince. 

“All over him?!” Marinette sputtered, “I’m his friend Chloe!”

“Please,” Chloe said snarkily, dragging the word out. “He’s only with you guys out of pity. You’ll never be as popular as him after all.”

Adrien groaned. Why was she such an instigator? He saw Marinette and Alya both turn their glares on Chloe and he knew he had to cut in before their argument turned into a brawl.

“Chloe,” Adrien said firmly, waiting for her to turn to him. “I’m sorry I haven't talked to you. I promise we’ll hang out soon, so can you please not fight anybody today?”

While Chloe had never been easy to handle, she seemed to have mellowed out a bit over the year. Especially after what happened during the Miracle Queen episode. It took a lot for her to regain any footing after that. So she stayed under the radar for a while, redeeming herself in her own Chloe way. Her ego was still the size of France and she lived to prove how much better she was than those beneath her, but generally she left when asked and wasn’t outright cruel to people anymore. He was proud of her progress honestly, even if the others couldn't see it. Could he blame them though?

“Alright, alright,” Chloe said, letting go of his arm to wave into the air.  “I expect a call and a present.” she sniffed, her nose to the air. Adrien almost laughed.

“Sure Chloe,” he watched her walk away with Sabrina, talking a mile a minute about the pedicures and manicures they were going to get tonight. 

“I still don’t understand how you’re friends with her,” Alya growled. Adrien wasn’t sure how to answer her, so he turned to Marinette. 

“Are you ok?” he asked gently, touching her arm where Chloe pushed her. 

“Yeah I’m alright. I’ll take more than Chloe to take me down,” Marinette said, sending him a grin. 

Adrien laughed softly, “I’m sure.” 

He couldn’t help staring at her. A stray piece of hair escaped from her ponytail and he wanted to tuck it behind her ear. Rub her fine hair between his fingers and give the strand a kiss while wishing he was brave enough to kiss her. Adrien pushed that thought firmly away and cleared his throat.

“Alright then!” he said quickly, steeping away. “Ready?” 

He pointedly ignored the looks he was getting from Alya and Nino and headed out without waiting for their response. 

They all climbed into his car, Adrien offering to give everyone a ride there and home and the Gorilla happy to drive them. It wasn’t often the young master was allowed out after all. They all chatted amicably until they reached the Bowling alley. That’s when the teasing and taunting began. Alya and Nino were especially fierce to each other, each threatening ways they were going to take the other down. Adrien’s belly hurt from laughing so much. They grabbed their shoes and balls after paying, Adrien paid for everyone, ignoring his friends' cries that they could pay for themselves, and headed towards their lane. It was number thirteen and he hoped his unlucky number would give him the advantage he needed tonight. 

They settled on boys vs. girls first, Adrien and Nino vs. Marinette and Alya. Adrien grinned. This was the dream team and him and Nino knew they would win. They put their names on the computer screen and started. 

Nino was first. He managed to get eight pins and pumped his hands in his air. He whooped, giving Adrien a fist bump.

“You’re turn!” 

Adrien grabbed his ball and walked up to the lane. He remembered the many hours of YouTube tutorials, took his stance and swung. The ball bounced hard and rolled until it hit the left two pins. He winced. 

“It’s alright bro! It’s just a warm up!” Nino’s shout cheered him up. He grabbed his ball again, aimed and swung. The ball didn’t bounce. Instead it traveled smoothly down the lane before hitting four more pins. Not bad for his first time!

He turned around joyfully, almost jumping with excitement. Everyone was cheering, even the girls. 

“That was great Adrien!” Marinette cried out, clapping loudly.

“Yea, nice swing!” Alya said, giving him a thumbs up. He blushed under their praise and scratched the back of his neck bashfully. 

“Your turn Alya,” he said, sitting down back next to Nino. 

Alya grabbed her ball haughtily and sent a glower to Nino. She posed, stepped forward and pitched her ball with incredible speed. Adrien watched, amazed, as it sped down the lane, hitting eight pins with a loud crack. The girls cheered and the boys gave each other worried looks. Alya hit the last two pins with her second round and then it was Marinette’s turn. 

Marinette walked smoothly up to the lane, her ball hanging off her delicate fingers. She didn’t look at anyone, focused on the pins in front of her. Adrien was amazed by her form and poise, watching the muscles of her back as she walked forward. She stopped for a second, stepped forward and pitched her ball at a frightening speed. The ball flew down the lane and hit the pins so hard they went flying.

STRIKE! Screamed the monitor and he gaped as Marinette, petite Marinette who couldn’t walk in a straight line without tripping sometimes, turned to them and flipped her hair proudly. She looked smug and it was thrilling to watch.

“Beat that losers,” she said, cackling. The girls gave each other high fives. The boys realized they were in trouble when Marinette started to hit strike after strike every turn. The battle soon ended with the boys crushing defeat, 270 to 140. Both of them groaned heavily as the females cheered together, chanting and singing about their victory. 

“Man, I can’t believe it,” Nino said, hanging off his chair. 

“I know. Who knew Marinette was a killer at bowling?” Adrien said lamely, holding his head in his hands. After all that bragging too! He was ashamed!

He heard tinkling laughter near him and looked up to see Marinette looking down at him. She was smiling happily. 

“That was really good for your first time Adrien,” she said, hands behind her. Adrien scoffed. 

“Yeah right. You’re only saying that out of pity!” Adrien lamented. He gave another exaggerated, defeated groan and Marinette giggled. He almost smiled, ruining his act. It was cute. She was cute. 

“Alright quit flirting! Who’s up for round two!” Alya yelled. 

Adrien blushed and Marinette sputtered out, “who’s flirting!” at Alya as she cackled in the background. Marinette turned away from Adrien while Adrien tried his best to get his blood away from his cheeks. 

“Let’s switch it up,” Marinette called out. Before Adrien could comment, Nino jumped up from his seat. 

“I call dibs on Marinette!” 

“Hey!” Adrien shouted. He wanted to partner with Marinette!

“Sorry bro,” Nino said, though he wasn’t sorry at all, “I’m here to win!”

The second round went better. Adrien was finally getting the hang of bowling and Alya was a much better tutor than Nino, who just berated him every time his ball went into the gutter. Though Nino and Marinette won, mainly due to Marinette’s frightening accuracy and strength, Adrien was happy. He felt like a normal teenager. No makeup or long poses or high expectations. Just ridiculous taunts and unbridled joy. There was nothing holding him back from roaring in laughter whenever Nino missed and cheering loudly when he finally made his first strike. He was a normal teenager and he felt warm all over, knowing he would never forget this day for as long as he lived. 

They took a break to get food. The alley had a small eatery, though they didn’t serve much of what he could eat. He stared dejectedly at the menu, trying to find something not loaded with calories and jumped when Nino grabbed his shoulder.

“He’ll have a cheeseburger with the works, a hot dog and a large coke.”

“Nino!” Adrien gasped. He couldn’t eat all of that!

Nino rolled his eyes. “Fine, a large water then please. And extra fries!”

The server stepped away after jotting down their order and Adrien said, “Nino, you know I can’t eat that.”

“Sure you can,” he scoffed. “There’s no one here to see you and who’s gonna tell? Definitely not me.”

The other ladies vehemently shook their heads, showing they wouldn’t tell either.

“Come onnnnnnn.” Nino said, rubbing his elbow on his ribs. Adrien winced, the elbow digging into him. It was sharp! 

He had gained some muscle (he was a superhero who ran through Paris and fought on an almost daily basis, on what planet would he not gain some muscle?), and fought hard to get his diet changed to include more calories once he noticed he was feeling hungrier and hungrier. Luckily his father agreed, noticing the change in his son’s physique and wanting him to be in top shape. But that didn’t mean he was to ignore his father’s rules and that included watching what he ate. If he found out… Adrien glanced worriedly around him, as if looking for any spies hired by his father. He felt Marinette touch the back of his hand and looked down. 

“If it’s that uncomfortable for you Adrien, we understand,” she said reassuringly. He saw Alya out of the corner of his eyes slam her hands over Nino’s mouth to shut down the immediate argument against her, but didn’t respond. He stared at the young woman, watching her as she looked at him with wide, comforting eyes. She didn't have to say much, or anything really. Marinette somehow had a way of always reassuring him that everything would be alright. And as he thought more about it, though he knew he was going against his father’s wishes, this would be the last place anyone would find him. He had eaten worse sometimes as Chat Noir too. So he breathed through his nose, his initial panic subsiding and his lips curled into a grateful smile. 

“Thank you Marinette,” he said. She smiled widely at him, her eyes twinkling with joy. 

"Anytime."

When their order was ready, he almost drooled at the feast before him. They each grabbed their trays and headed back to their lane. Adrien grabbed Marinette's in a gentlemanly fashion and grinned at her pout. The gang sat in their chairs, Nino next to Alya and Adrien next to Marinette. When he took a bite of his burger, he couldn’t stop the moan that escaped. 

“How is this so good!” he said after swallowing. He did have manners after all. 

Marinette giggled again, dipping her fry in a strange mixture of chili sauce and mayo. It looked tasty, so he dipped his fry to taste, ignoring her cries. He choked, almost spitting out the fry. It was  _ spicy! _

“Whoa,” Adrien coughed out, “How much chili is in there?” 

“Not a lot…” Marinette said, dipping another fry and popping it into her mouth. His taste buds said otherwise.

“We have time for one more round,” Nino said, taking another bite of his meat heavy burger. It had bacon, pork, beef and sat in a puddle of cheesy grease. Adrien grimaced at the pool of fat on Nino’s plate. He had a simple cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato and onion and was grateful not to get heartburn later. Then he understood what Nino said and raised his hand like he was in class.

“I call dibs on Marinette!” he shouted, then blushed. Nino calling dibs wasn’t as weird as him saying it. Nino was her childhood friend. Adrien was a boy who maybe, possibly had a tiny crush on her. Different meanings. He lowered his hand and took another bite of his burger, ignoring Alya’s stare.

“Sure!” Marinette chirped happily, not noticing Adrien’s plight. “I’ll help you perfect your bowling skills. You’ll be a pro in no time!”

They finished their meal quickly after that and set up. They were all lethargic now, bellies full with good food, so they took the game slowly. Alya and Nino spent more time cuddling on the benches than bowling. So it gave Marinette and Adrien more time to talk and play. Marinette stood with Adrien at the lip of the lane, bowling ball in hand.

“I noticed when you let go of the ball, you twist your wrist. That’s why the ball always curves to the left or right. When you let go, try not to twist your wrist. Instead keep them straight and have the ball roll from your hands. Like this.”

Adrien looked on as Marinette made the motions with her hands. She had delicate fingers and thin wrists and he was amazed again at the power behind them. Adrien copied her movements, understanding why he was having such a hard time hitting the pins. An in person teacher was way better than YouTube. She motioned for him to go move forward and pose. Adrien glanced back at the others.

“Don’t worry,” Marinette snorted. “Right now, they could care less if you take their turn.”

Adrien chuckled. He went to line up and concentrated as he swung his arm back. 

“Wait!” Marinette cried out. 

She came up and put her hands on his bicep. Her hands were warm, with a good grip. Adrien tried to keep his blush under control. 

“Don’t move your arm behind you. Keep it next to you, parallel to your body. Like this,” she moved his arm firmly to his side, showing him the proper pose. He refused to admit that he was very much enjoying the way she manhandled him. After making some adjustments, she nodded and made a noise of satisfaction. 

“There! Remember that pose.” 

Adrien focused on memorizing the pose and not Marinette’s hands on his arm. 

“Alright, go for it.”

He stepped back again before moving forward. Copying the new pose, he let go of the ball and watched as it flew in the center line and cracked against the pins. He knocked them all down in one fell swoop.

“Yes!” he howled, turning around and hugging Marinette. “It worked! I did it!!” 

He lifted her high into the air, swinging her around. She burst into laughter, holding onto his shoulders. They cheered together happily, stopping when he got a little dizzy. He realized he had his arms around Marinette’s waist, lifting her off the ground. She weighed almost nothing, her body flushed to his, and in this position, she was looking down at him. In his joy he didn’t realize how close he was to her. 

Her blue eyes almost glowed, parted lips parted showing teeth and going to cheek to cheek. She looked so happy it took his breath away. He tightened his grip unconsciously and her smile faltered as she gasped, her lips parting into a small o. There was a start of something, a static that was the beginning of a current he wanted nothing more than to be washed away in. He glanced at her lips and he saw her lick her bottom lip nervously. The action sent a burst of adrenaline through him and made him realize what he was doing. He quickly put her down, unwinding his arms and stepping back. 

“Sorry,” he apologized, his voice gruff. Marinette cleared her throat softly, giving him a small smile. 

“Nothing to be sorry for,” she said gently. She held out her fist, “Good game.”

Adrien chuckled and bumped fists with her, mumbling his reply. 

They all left once the time hit, leaving their last game unfinished when they decided to just talk amongst each other. When it was time to go home, the Gorilla drove Nino and Alya home, then headed towards Marinette’s. The car ride was silent, Adrien looking out the window to avoid looking at her. It was severely impolite and Adrien didn’t want a misunderstanding to start because of this, but he knew that if he looked at Marinette now he would want to kiss her and never stop.

When they arrived, Adrien held the car door open and walked Marinette to the front. He saw the lights were still on inside and imagined her parents waiting for her in their living room, ready to hear all about her night. 

“Thank you for coming tonight. I really had a lot of fun,” Adrien turned to Marinette, watching her as she spoke. She looked nervous again, though he wasn’t entirely sure why. It reminded him a lot of how she used to be. It was adorable then, just like how it was adorable now and he couldn’t stop his heart from racing, unwilling to acknowledge the truth in his heart. 

Adrien stepped back slowly, giving her a smile in return. “I had a lot of fun too. Thanks for teaching me.” 

Marinette giggled, “Anytime. Text me when you get home?”

Adrien nodded absently, “Of course. Goodnight Marinette.” 

Marinette stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. He stiffened, a little surprised, but hugged her back. When they parted, she gave him a fond look and he melted at the softness of her words.

“Goodnight Adrien.”

He watched to make sure she was inside safely before returning to the car. He didn’t remember the ride home, nor entering his home and room. He vaguely recalled Plagg complaining about gross human rituals and demanding more cheese. He was firmly stuck in the clouds, a crack appearing in the dam around his heart. He thought about their night and he thought about their hug and he almost swooned when he thought about how close he was to kissing her. Marinette was his friend, his best friend and with a dismayed realization, he now wanted to be more than friends. 

What was he going to do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Thank you all for your wonderful comments. It made me laugh and smile and I love that you are all enjoying this tale of Adrien being an oblivious idiot lol 
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this chapter as I tried to pull as much of Adrien as a character as I could, while still staying true to the story. I hope you all enjoy it as well! I would ask for you to be patient with him, but considering we're three seasons in the show and he's STILL like this, we all already have the necessary amounts of patience lol
> 
> But no worries, you don't have to wait long ;)
> 
> Enjoy!

He was going to do what he always did. Avoid the situation until it hopefully went away.

He figured the less he saw Marinette, the easier it would be to let go of his feelings for her. The days passed and Adrien didn’t even notice. When he went to school, he did his best to avoid Marinette, making excuses about needing to be elsewhere during lunch or their break times. He didn’t text her or pass by her house as Chat Noir like he promised. His Pere was ecstatic when he asked for more work to keep him busier than usual and outside of school, that way he could feign that he was tired from work. He slept for maybe 3-4 hours a night before moving on to the next thing. It was an unhealthy coping mechanism, but it was working. 

Even if his guilt kept increasing the longer he avoided her. 

After a long day of pictures and business meetings, Adrien finally made it home. It was late and he knew he should go to bed if he wanted to be decent for school tomorrow. But he wasn’t sleepy, too wrapped up in his brooding. He turned on his radio, choosing to play a mournful classical piece and wallow in some self-pity. Right as the music began, Plagg shot out of his sleeping place. He scowled heavily at his holder. 

“How long are you planning to keep this up?” Plagg’s snark was in full destroy mode. Adrien knew his Kwami would fight him sooner or later. The small God had been complaining for days already. 

“As long as I have to,” Adrien sniffed primly, sitting tiredly in front of his computer. He had replaced the pictures of Ladybug from his desktop to generic pictures, then replaced those with group pictures of his friends. He stared longingly at one in particular when they went to get ice cream and Adrien has his arm around  _ her _ waist, a little bit of the sweet cream on the corner of her lips. 

He had it  **bad.** Even with avoiding her, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. How pretty she was, smart, courageous, sassy, creative-

“UGH I GET IT,” Plagg groaned, floating in front of Adrien’s face. Plagg usually liked to watch Adrien’s drama unfold, comparing it to his favorite soap opera, but it seemed he had enough. 

“I don’t understand the problem. You like pigtails and she likes you.”

Adrien flushed red, “She’s just a friend! And you don’t know that she likes me!”

Plagg gave him a withering look, “Kid, how are you this dense?”

“Hey!”

“She has been fawning over you like I do with cheese for years. YEARS.”

“No she hasn’t,” Adrien stubbornly argued back.

“The flirty goo goo eyes?” Plagg asked. 

“She doesn’t give me goo goo eyes!”

“The solo dates?”

“Friends can hang out on their own you know.”

“All those presents?”

Adrien’s flush grew impossibly deeper, remembering the hand knitted blanket he got a couple months ago and how she blushed when he thanked her and he praised her work. “She’s my best friend. Of course we give each other presents.”

“She signs her cards with ‘Love, Marinette’. LOVE Adrien, L.O.V.E.”

“That’s just her being nice,” Adrien snapped and Plagg had enough. 

“OH MY GOD,” Plagg groaned, throwing his hands up in the air. “Why are you like this?!”

“Like what?” he shouted angrily back, not liking Plagg’s tone.

“Refusing to see the obvious right in front of you!”

Adrien shut his mouth with an audible click, frustrated with his Kwami. He didn’t understand what Plagg was saying. What was obvious? If it was obvious, wouldn’t he have frigging seen it already?! 

“If I prove you wrong, will you admit that she likes you?” Plagg grinned and Adrien bristled, taking on the challenge.

Plagg summoned a piece of paper from seemingly out of nowhere. The paper was small and pink, folded in half. Plagg dropped it right on Adrien’s lap and sauntered off haughtily, leaving Adrien with what was possibly a bomb.

His heart quickening in his chest, he delicately grabbed the paper and unfolded it. Adrien flushed to the tips of his roots at the handwritten words and doodles he clearly recognized written in Marinette’s elegant cursive.

_ Marinette Agreste or Marinette Dupain-Cheng Agreste? <3 _

He let out a cry so loud he was sure it woke up everyone in the entire house. And possibly his whole block. 

-

Adrien was  _ exhausted. _ He wasn’t sure how long he could keep this up so he made a mental note to ask his father to scale things down a bit. He could claim sleep deprivation was affecting his health or something like that. Which was true. 

It didn’t help that Adrien had stayed up almost all night arguing with Plagg. He refused to believe the legitimacy of such a note, claiming Plagg forged it. He did produce it rather fast… 

Plagg, in turn, was offended and in his rage, proceeded to smear camembert all over his clothes. He spent too much time chasing after the Kwami to get him to stop and even more time trying to get the smell of cheese off his clothes in the shower. 

He tried not to sniff a lot as he was unable to get the stench completely off. 

Plagg loved to tease him, but last night was cruel. To give him hope like that? He refused to play into Plagg’s jokes. Besides, she wouldn’t need to change her last name since he would take hers!

Adrien sighed and rubbed his eyes. He was too tired for this. 

“Damn bro, what happened to you.”

Adrien looked up and saw Nino was in front of him. He barely noticed him arrive. Behind Nino stood Alya and Marinette. Seeing Marinette reminded him of how much of a selfish jerk he was being lately. Just because he couldn’t control his emotions didn’t mean he had to hurt Marinette. His guilt rose up again, filling his stomach with lead.

Alya was dressed a little differently today. She had on a red and black cropped shirt with a jagged hem that read “Don’t get even Get Good” across her chest. Her dark blue jeans were ripped and she wore a pair of black combat boots. She looked ready to fight and by the cold look she sent his way, it was probably with him. He shivered and his tired gaze moved to Marinette. By then he knew he was in for it in the best and worst possible way.

Marinette was dressed similar to Alya, but while Alya was ready to fight, Marinette looked ready to join a punk band. She had on a black corset with neon green ribbon down its front over a rose colored, high waisted skirt. A  _ very _ short rose colored, high waisted skirt. Her black biker jacket gave her a cool edge and the high-heeled ankle black boots completed her punk ensemble. She was also giving him a cool look, almost indifferent, but he caught the irritation under it. 

He felt Nino’s hand under his chin close his mouth shut. His mind decided to finally reboot, having realized he was openly gaping at his good friend’s new outfit. His face turned a spectacular shade of red. 

“Sorry!” he meeped, feeling awkward. He was a mess, but it didn’t mean he had to be crass. His nervousness clashed with the need to see what was under that jacket, see if her freckles traveled further down. 

_ No! Bad Adrien! _

He was half delighted, half mortified and entirely guilty. He wasn’t some cat in heat, panting over women! Especially a woman he had ignored for the better part of a week. 

“Nice of you to join us,” Alya said coldly. Adrien winced. He couldn’t blame her for being upset by his disappearing act. He decided then enough was enough, he had to stop pretending. It would be hard, but he would handle being around Marinette while hiding his feelings. He could do it! But before he could be welcomed back into the group, he had one important thing to do. 

Knowing he had to own up, he stepped forward towards Marinette, reigning in his embarrassment long enough to apologize. 

“I’m so sorry Marinette. I had a lot going on, both physically and mentally. I just needed some time to figure some stuff out, but I shouldn’t have ignored you like that,” Adrien apologized. He couldn’t look Marinette in the eye, stuck between ashamed at his actions and desire to see more of her. It was better to keep looking away. Silence followed afterwards, Adrien feeling worse as the seconds went on. 

The bell rang, its shrill tone breaking the atmosphere. He gulped as Marinette spoke.

“I won’t forgive just yet. Not until you tell me what you think of my new outfit.”

Adrien’s head whipped to her. She was grinning, standing with her hip cocked and hand at her waist, looking like a badass punk goddess. 

“You’re  _ amazing,” _ he sighed and just like that, he took back his earlier statement, knowing he was going to absolutely fail at hiding his feelings. 

“Uh--I mean it’s amazing! It came out really well, love that lace. Was that the bell? We should probably get to class! Class definitely!” he was rambling, glancing at his friends anxiously, then booked it, settling for a fast power walk that took him as far away as possible from the valkyrie who arrived to  _ kill him.  _

He was thankful and disappointed that his seat was in front of Marinette’s. Sitting in front robbed him of the chance to stare at the back of her beautiful head, but it stopped from wondering about things he shouldn’t be wondering about. He could barely concentrate, the combination of his exhaustion and the embarrassment from the morning kicking into overdrive. Maybe he should go to the nurse’s office to take a cat nap.

A slip of paper slid close to him and Adrien looked down, giving up all pretense of paying attention. He was ahead of the curriculum anyways.

**_DUDE_** Nino’s messy scrawl emphasized that word with a few dark underlines. Adrien worked hard not to turn red again. 

_ What? _

Feigning nonchalance was the best tactic to get through the interrogation that was about to come.

**_Don’t what me! DUDE!_ **

_ Stop it. I was excited to see how far she’s progressed with her designs. As a model of course.  _

It was a terrible lie. He had to try at least.

**_You are the biggest liar._ **

_ It’s true! She showed me the sketch for that corset. It turned out great. Even father would be impressed! _

Could he lay it on any thicker? Nino pursed his lips, as if saying ‘uh-huuuuh’. Adrien scowled. 

_ It’s true!! _

Their professor cleared her throat loudly. Both boys jumped in their seats, looking forward. 

“Is there something you’d like to share with the class?” Mdm. Bustier said, a little amused and with a raised brow. Both boys shook their heads, returning to their notebooks. Nino shoot him a ‘we’ll talk about this later’ look, which Adrien whole fully ignored and returned to trying not to fall asleep in the middle of class. 

Lunch period finally arrived and Adrien was happy for the break, though he was slow to pack his things. They waved at the girls to go ahead without them. He wouldn’t be able to get past the crowd of other girls surrounding them anyways, all giggling and chattering excitedly over the new outfits. 

“You liiiiiike her,” Nino teased, following after the group in the halls. Adrien scowled again and refused to respond. He wasn’t going to keep avoiding Marinette, but that didn’t mean he was going to openly admit his feelings!

“Come on. Admit at least that she looks like a total babe today!” 

_ She’s not just a total babe! She’s the most divine creation known to man!  _ Adrien was glad he thought that instead of shouting it to the heavens like he wanted to. 

“Shouldn’t you be saying that to Alya?” Adrien asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Already did bro. My babe is smoking today!” Nino said gleefully.

“Do you even know why they are dressed like that?” Adrien asked crossly. He was too _tired_ for this.

“Did you even read our group text?” Nino shot back, clearly also annoyed by Adrien’s disappearing act. Though a little more sympathetic as they chatted offline when he wasn’t drowning in work. They set out after the group of girls towards the lunchroom. 

Adrien frowned and remembered in his task to avoid Marinette, he avoided the group chat too. He was annoyed with himself and his frown deepened when he noticed one of the boys from the class next door stop Marinette, causing her to fall back from the group of girls. He was tall, with dark hair and tan skin. Unrecognizable really, but as socially inept as he was, he still recognized a male chasing after a female. A growl started in his throat, watching as the guy walked into Marinette’s personal space. 

“Wow, that outfit is hot! Wanna sit with me at lunch?” he had stepped into her personal space AND solicited her? He had to go. 

“Sorry, not interested.” Marinette said, stepping aside and a little closer to Alya. Alya provided the meanest glare she could, which was pretty frightening, but the guy was  _ determined _ . 

“Come on, sit with me!” the guy said playfully, lifting his arm to grab Marinette. 

Adrien zeroed in on the hand reaching for her and with his Chat speed, stepped up and grabbed the hand by its wrist. He squeezed hard. 

“She said she wasn’t interested. Back off,” Adrien hissed, glaring at him. Adrien clenched his hand harder and relished a little at his wince. 

“Ok! Ok!” he cried out. 

Adrien narrowed his eyes, wishing he had his fangs instead of his blunt teeth. Scare him and anyone else away who thought they could treat Marinette like some property. He felt a gentle touch at his arm and with a sound of disgust, let go. The boy quickly scurried away, Adrien’s eyes following him until he disappeared around the corner. 

“It’s okay now,” Marinette spoke up. She didn’t sound worried or even phased by the rude boy, but Adrien still felt the cold flames of his anger licking his skin. 

“I can’t stand guys like that. He had no right!” Although the boy didn’t do anything other than being annoying, he flashed to that moment when he knew he was going to grab Marinette. His anger flared again. 

Marinette chuckled. She wrapped her hand around his clenched fist. She was smiling, looking a little bashful, and said. “While I  _ can _ take care of myself, thank you for looking out for me.” 

The little upturn of her lip was enough to cool his fury, leave it simmering instead. He sighed deeply, cheeks flushing pink. 

“Yeah, of course…” he mumbled, now feeling weird over his uncharacteristic display of anger. 

“Girl I know you can, but I was ready to punch him in the face!” Alya snarled, looking ready to find the kid to do just that. Nino grabbed her shoulder. 

“Me too Alya,” he said just as fiercely. “Maybe we should go find him…”

“Guys,” Marinette groaned, stepping a little closer into Adrien’s space. The hand around his fist moved to wrap around his forearm. He felt the smooth fabric of the corset brush his skin and gulped. Plagg poked his chest repeatedly, his small body quivering with laughter in his pocket. 

“Let’s just go eat. I’m starving,” Marinette said and walked ahead, pulling Adrien with her. 

When they reached the lunchroom there was no sign of the kid who tried to accost his princess. Good for him. If he would have shown up, Adrien would have been obliged to join forces with Alya and Nino and beat him to a pulp. 

Nino, who was like a cat with a fish, kept sending him knowing glances. If his reaction this morning wasn’t a clue to his feelings, his reaction to someone accosting Marinette, and the subsequent arm holding he didn’t do anything to move out of, was a highway sign surrounded by neon lights. He _absolutely_ failed at keeping his crush hidden, which if he was honest with himself, he was starting to feel ok with it. But now Nino knew and Nino loved three things; his girlfriend, music and teasing the heck out of Adrien. 

When the girls left for a moment to go to the bathroom, Nino was on him in a heartbeat. 

“I cannot believe mister ‘she’s just a friend’ finally,  _ finally,  _ came through!” Nino cheered. 

“Nino please,” Adrien pleaded, making shushing noises to make him be quiet. 

“Admit to me you have a crush on her.”

“I don’t have a crush on Marinette,” Adrien shot back. It was an automatic response and a big bold-faced  _ lie. _

Nino scoffed, “Yea ok and I’m not French. Admit it already!”

“I don't-”

“Admit it!”

“Fine! YES! I like her!” Adrien shouted. The chatter of the lunchroom dimmed as everyone turned to look in their direction. Adrien flushed to his ears, putting his head in his hands. 

“Someone please put me out of my misery…”

Nino patted his back consolingly, “There there. That wasn’t so hard right?”

Adrien just groaned. He never felt so embarrassed in his life. Not that liking Marinette was embarrassing, not at all! He was embarrassed by how  _ awkward _ he was. And for all of Plagg’s taunts, he still found it hard to believe that Marinette liked him back. A possibly forged note didn’t prove anything! 

“Now all we need to do is get you to confess!” Nino cheered. 

“Nino!” Adrien gasped. That was the absolute  _ last _ thing he needed to do!

His best friend laughed right in his face, the jerk. 

“I’m not going to do that,” Adrien said adamantly. 

“Trust me dude, it would  _ definitely _ work out if you confessed.”

And Adrien wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Plagg and Nino were notorious for teasing him, but both were implying the same thing. 

Could he be that lucky? 

“What’s going on here?” Alya said, crossing her arms. Marinette looked ecstatic, practically bouncing on her feet next to her. He wondered what they talked about while they were gone. Maybe about Marinette’s alleged crush? On him? 

“Nothing Al. Just talk between guys.” Nino said lightheartedly, then gave Adrien an exaggerated wink. He stifled another groan. 

“Can we just eat? Please?” Adrien begged. They all laughed at him and he wondered why he was friends with them all. They reached their tables and sat in their usual positions, Nino and him on one side, Marinette and Alya on the other. 

“Girl, you really outdid yourself with this outfit. It is crazy!” Alya praised, rubbing the fabric of the jacket between her fingers. 

_ Crazy is an understatement _ , he thought, almost offended by Alya’s comment.

Marinette giggled. “Thanks Alya. I wanted to make sure I had the right outfit for tonight’s concert!”

Adrien perked up, “Concert?” he asked. 

“Yes, the Jagged Stone concert. If you had read your messages…” Alya replied dryly. 

“Yeah yeah, I said I was sorry already. You’re going to the Jagged Stone concert?” Adrien asked, excited. He knew how much Marinette liked the famous singer. He owned a few of his CDs too. 

“Uh-huh!” Marinette responded joyfully. 

“But how? I heard the tickets were sold out,” he had wanted to go, but the concert clashed with his schedule and his father refused to give in and schedule around it. 

“Because she’s Marinette!” Alya said, proud and haughty on behalf of her best friend. Marinette swatted her friend’s arm, causing Alya to laugh. 

“BECAUSE Clara’s niece came across my online boutique and loved one of my set pieces. She wanted it for a party she was going to in like three days. So in return for the rush job, she gave me two backstage passes to the concert!” the girls squealed together, excited. Backstage passes to see her favorite artist was a dream come true. He was happy for her. Really. 

_ You are a liar AND a terrible person Agreste,  _ he thought to himself.

“Rad! I’m so jealous!” Nino exclaimed.

_ Me too buddy. _

“We’re going to Rouen tonight. Alya’s dad agreed to take us,” Marinette said. 

“Probably to get away from the little hellions,” Alya snipped. Marinette rolled her eyes.

“So I came ready to go. We’re planning on leaving right when last period ends,” Marinette finished as she took a bite of her meal. 

It explained the outfits and unnecessary breaking of their school’s dress code. They were both lucky they were the teachers favorites. 

“It’s gonna be so much fun!” Alya squealed again. Nino laughed, joined by Marinette. Their combined happiness was infectious. He chuckled too, thrilled for his friends. He only wished he could go with them.

The trio spent the rest of their lunch period talking amicably about everything and nothing. Surprisingly enough, lulled by the voices of his closest friends, Adrien started to nod off again. The adrenaline from earlier was gone, so he decided to put his head down for a moment. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep. 

He was led back to the half awake, half asleep state by Marinette’s sweet voice calling to him. Then rudely jostled into full awareness by Nino’s pinpoint kick to his shin. Adrien hissed and sent a heavy glare towards his so called best friend. 

“Come on, class starts soon,” Nino said nonchalantly, as if he hasn’t bruised the heck out of his leg. 

Adrien grunted in acknowledgement and grabbed his bag. He gave a reassuring smile to Marinette, which did nothing to dispel the concern she showed clearly towards him. It wasn’t normal for him to be this tired, though he hoped to change that in future. Figuring there was nothing else he could do, Adrien shrugged his backpack on and moved aside to let Marinette walk in front of him. And no, it wasn’t for the pleasant view that was subsequently granted to him. 

_...Liar. _

-

When school ended he was practically a zombie. He could barely stay awake. Nino prodded him on occasion to jostle him back from falling asleep, but he would go right under again. He would be useless tonight. Sending a quick text to Natalie to hopefully cancel tonight’s meeting, he looked up from his phone when he heard a soft voice call to him. Marinette stood in front of him, bookbag in hand. She shifted side to side, a nervous gesture he hadn’t seen in a while. It was endearing and so cute to watch and the familiarity was nostalgic. Alya shouted to her from the doorway to hurry and she jumped a bit, as if startled from her thoughts. He couldn’t help the smile that grew. He hoped she never changed. 

“I hope you are able to get a good night’s sleep tonight Adrien,” she said, catching her lips between her teeth. He couldn't stop his eyes from staring, vaguely wishing it was his teeth instead of hers. “I’ll make sure to get tons of pictures and if you’re feeling up to it, I can show you them tomorrow?

Adrien froze. It wasn’t uncommon for them to hang out nowadays, but that was before he had a raging crush that was getting more difficult to hide. Still, a chance to hang out with Marinette alone? His heart pounded with fear and excitement. 

“Yes!” he shouted, startling himself with the volume of his voice. Nino made a squawking noise in alarm. 

_ Calm down you idiot! _

“Yes,” he said again, volume significantly lower, but no less enthusiastic. “I would love that.”

Marinette beamed at him and he heard a long, loud monotone beep in his ears. Oh, that was the sound of his heart stopping. 

“Great! I’ll text you. We’ll figure out details tomorrow. See you later!” She waved goodbye and jogged away, meeting up with Alya at the doorway. They put their heads together, giggling at something. The last thing he saw was Alya wiggling her stupid perfectly manicured eyebrows at him before they walked away. 

Nino patted his shoulder, “You got it bad bro.”

_ No kidding,  _ he sighed. 

The youngest Agreste arrived home soon after. Thankfully Natalie was able to rearrange things so he could rest. It took a little begging and a smidgen of guilt trip before she agreed. His bed was calling to him, a sweet siren song he could hear all the way in the foyer. He promised Nino a round of video games later tonight too. Overall it was a good day and he was happy. As he walked through the doors of his childhood home, he wondered if Marinette and Alya made it to Rouen yet. Alya’s father was a careful driver, but the excitement of two young teenagers was infectious. He took out his phone to text Marinette when the sound of disapproval rang through the parlor. 

Adrien looked up onto the figure of his father, standing poised at the top of the stairs in his typical ‘at attention’ form. It was meant to intimidate those beneath him. Adrien wasn’t the child he used to be, shaking under the cold eyes of his father. However even at almost 18 years of age, he couldn’t stop the chill he felt when confronted by him. The loss of his father’s love hit him deeply when he finally accepted that nothing he ever did would make Gabriel Agreste happy.

“Hello father,” Adrien said, head down and shoulders hunched. 

Gabriel didn’t reply back in typical fashion. The silence he was used to laying heavily between them. It was a minute or so before he finally spoke. It felt like days. 

“You have been neglecting yourself I see,” he said coldly. 

Adrien didn’t respond. Nothing he could say would work to help him anyways. Gabriel was silent a moment longer, inspecting Adrien. Then he spoke again. 

“I have some business matters to attend to out of town and will not be back until Monday. Natalie will remain to make sure you rest today and then stay on top of your schedule and your studies. It will not be long until you finish your schooling. Have you looked at universities yet?”

Adrien nodded, “Yes father, I have.” 

Short clipped sentences finished the interaction faster. Something else he grew to learn and accept. 

“Good,” Gabriel stated. He walked down the stairs. Adrien felt once again the flutter of hope that his father would stop to give him a proper farewell. A hug, a handshake, he’ll even take a pat on the shoulder. Anything. His hope followed Gabriel past him and out the front doors, leaving dejection in its place. Adrien shrugged away the melancholy, used to his father’s behavior, though the pain in his heart told him otherwise. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The little bit with Gabriel is to set the precedent that him and his father are not on good terms and that Adrien is coming to terms with that. It comes into play a later, but there won't be much more than that. 
> 
> It was also a chance for me to write about what an asshole Gabriel is. Because truly, he is the worst of the worst fathers in the history of the universe. 
> 
> Thank you for reading!! I APPRECIATE YOU ALL!!!!!!!! *HEART EMOJIS TIMES A MILLION


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back with chapter five! We're about halfway through the story now. 
> 
> Thank you all for reading and commenting/leaving kudos on this fic! I hope your holidays, whichever you celebrate, go super duper well and that you all stay safe and still try to have a good time. Especially in these crazy pandemic times. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Adrien tossed his bag on the floor and jumped onto his bed. The soft mattress and downy feathers greeted him like an old friend and he sighed, content and sleepy. He pushed away the melancholy he felt every time he interacted with his father, focusing on the good things that happened to him earlier today.

  1. He got to see Marinette’s new outfit (and it was _incredible)_
  2. He finally admitted, out loud, his newfound crush
  3. He had time to sleep and was going to play video games with Nino later
  4. Marinette’s new outfit (because WOW)
  5. He was going to hang out with Marinette tomorrow!



The last one made him whoop, his cheers echoing loudly in his room. Marinette and him alone together! He would take the chance to do a little detective work, see if Plagg’s and Nino’s speculations were true. Because if she did have a crush on him….

Adrien grabbed his pillow and squealed into it. 

“Excited much?” Plagg asked, amused. He was floating close by, he could tell by the rank smell of camembert invading his nostrils. 

“You have no idea Plagg,” Adrien said, snuggling into his pillow. If Marinette really did like him… he sighed dreamily. He wanted to text Marinette before he fell asleep, but his eyes were already closing. The last thing he heard was Plagg sniggering, making his nest on Adrien’s hair before he fell asleep. 

When he woke up, it was to the sound of his phone beeping, its soft ringtone notifying him he was receiving a message. It rang a few more times before it stopped. Adrien woke up slowly, a little disoriented. It was dark, the light of the moon shining through his big windows, illuminating his desk and bed. The house was silent, the monotone sounds of his computer tower beeping and the central air rolling were the only things he could hear. His phone rang again. 

Adrien lifted his head. The noise from coming from a distance. It registered that it was coming from his bag. He must have fallen asleep before connecting it to its charger. He got up and padded towards it, ignoring Plagg’s grumbling complaints and pulling the phone from his bag, he saw his battery was low, but still good. He had 10 messages. Three of them were from Nino.

**Nino: Still up for games?**

**Nino: Bro?**

**Nino: LOL sleep tight man**

Adrien chuckled. He felt a little bad for missing their play time, but didn’t regret it. He was already feeling better from his nap, more refreshed than ever. 

The next batch was from Marinette. It was one message with a smiley face emoji and then a series of attachments. They were pictures of the concert. It was packed, people pushed against one another. Everything was bright and he thought he could feel the heat of the crowd. There were some Alya/Marinette selfies, making silly faces. One had another guy posed with them, arms hanging over both their shoulders. Their grins were wide and Adrien frowned at how close he was to Marinette. He scolded himself for thinking that way. But he felt a bit of relief when the next picture showed four people, Marinette, Alya, the man in the previous picture hugging another woman joyfully. She made new friends. Of course she did, everywhere Marinette went she made a new friend. She was just that cool. 

Her last picture was a zoomed in portrait of Jagged Stone, rocking out on stage. It was a good picture, the stage lights bright and colorful. Her message read: 

**Marinette: I CAN’T WAIT TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE CONCERT! :D**

He laughed at her message. He couldn’t wait to hear about it!

He opened his last text, one from Alya. It had a note and one attachment. 

**Alya: You’re welcome ;)**

The image that came up took his breath away. Marinette was posing for the camera, her head cocked a little and her lips parted wide. It almost looked like Alya caught her mid-laugh and she looked magnificent. Her bun was loosened, probably from rocking out too much, strands framing her face in a perfect portrait. Bright, deep blue eyes that shone with exhilaration, framed by dark eyeliner and pink shadow. Her petite nose was scrunched up in that way he liked when she was really happy. Her lips were colored, a bright green that reminded him of the corset lace that hugged her waist. She was so breathtakingly beautiful. 

Adrien checked out the time. It was almost 1am, but she should be home by now right?

“Plagg,” Adrien whispered, calling to his Kwami. The little god grumbled. 

“Plagg!”

“What?” he growled, floating up sleepily. 

“If I get you two wheels of cheese, can I transform?” Adrien asked.

“Are you serious?” Plagg said, incredulous and becoming more awake by the second. 

“Three wheels!” Adrien learned early on that bartering worked better than begging to get the Kwami to do anything he requested. 

“It’s the middle of the night!” Plagg howled, annoyed at his cat-nap being interrupted.

“Four wheels!” 

The little god paused. He stared at his holder, pensive. They had a battle of wills before the Kawmi sighed in defeat. 

“Six wheels. By tomorrow,” Plagg demanded. 

“Done!” Adrien cheered. He called for his transformation promptly, Plagg grumbling the whole time. Chat Noir stood in the middle of Adrien’s room, cat ears twitching as the sounds of the Parisian night hit him. It was late, but he imagined it wasn’t that long ago Marinette returned. It was time to fulfill his promise. 

-

The night was cool even though Spring was coming to an end. He could tell by the change in the air. Adrien coursed through Paris, leaping over buildings towards Marinette’s home. He didn’t rush. He knew she would still be awake, wired after coming home from such an awesome concert. He was eager to see her, hear all about her night. Maybe he could even sneak in a kiss…

He didn’t need night vision to find Marinette’s home. Her lights were still on like a beacon in the night, the fairy lights making her balcony glow in a soft light. He landed on her railing silently in the only shadow he could find, listening for any peeping toms. It was late and he was sure most of her neighbors would be asleep. When he didn’t hear any ruckus, not even from the apartment under him, Chat crawled down to the balcony floor and padded his way to her trap door. 

He looked down inside, but couldn’t see much past her bed. Most of the lights were off, except for a singular light coming from deep within her room. If it wasn’t dark, she was most likely still awake. So, hoping he wouldn’t give her a heart attack, he knocked twice on the glass pane.

Chat stepped back, waiting patiently for her to come up. His tail lashed lazily on the floor, almost catching one of her potted plants. He turned to grab it and almost missed the sound of the latch unlocking. His lips curved into a million watt smile as Marinette climbed up over the skylight, searched around and almost jumped when her gaze landed on him.

“Chat Noir?” she said skeptically, as if she wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating or not.

“It has been far too long, Princess,” Chat said formally, giving her a low, sweeping bow.

Marinette climbed the rest of the way up and Chat noticed she was in her pajamas, a white tank top with pink fluffy long pants and socks. She looked warm and very cozy. Maybe she would let him lay his head on her lap.

“What are you doing here?” 

“I was patrolling the area and saw your lights were on,” he lied. “I remembered that much time has passed since I last checked on my favorite civilian.”

“Favorite?” Marinette asked with a light grin and raised brow.

“Why, of course! There is no one I know who is fairer and braver than you!”

“Not even Ladybug?” she teased.

Chat grinned, scratching his chin sheepishly. 

“Well, maybe Ladybug. But you’re up there too!”

Marinette giggled, crossing her arms over her abdomen. She looked cold and Chat realized the night was still chilly, even if he couldn’t feel it due to his armor. 

“You look cold,” he started, formulating a plan to get them to sit next to one another.

“Well, I was warm until a stray decided to stop by and distract me,” Marinette grinned.

“Were you working on something?” Chat asked.

“No, just messing on my phone. I got back from a concert and was still pretty wired.”

“A concert? You mean the Jagged Stone concert?!” Adrien played at being surprised, but his excitement was real. 

“Yes! You like Jagged?”

Chat nodded heartily. 

“I have his latest CD. I wanted to see him live, but… didn’t really work out,” he chuckled.

“The concert was really fun. Jagged was great live. I hope you get to see him!” she said sympathetically. 

“Me too,” Chat laughed and walked a little closer to her.

“If you’re still wired, would a _chat_ with this stray help you sleep?”

Marinette rolled her eyes affectionately, “Hardly. You’ll just keep me awake with those dastardly puns.”

“Princess, you wound me,” Chat sighed dramatically, placing a palm over his heart. And Marinette’s head fell back as she let out a loud, happy laugh. It made Chat grin widely. Listening to her laugh was always like listening to wind chimes, relaxing and filling him with joy. 

He stepped closer and sat on the floor next to her chair. 

“Come, I’ll keep you warm while we catch up,” Chat said. He worked not to blush at his choice of words, but didn’t take them back. Marinette glanced at him shyly, and a little nervously, but conceded after a minute on contemplation and sat on her chair. She tucked her legs under her, moving around until she was comfortable. Chat shifted closer until his head was almost touching her arm. 

“Good?”

“You’re like a furnace,” Marinette sighed happily and shifted to be a little closer to him. He beamed at her compliment. 

They talked for a while, Marinette telling him about her boutique, school and friends. Chat pretended not to know about her life, nodding when appropriate and commenting when needed. They talked and talked the night away, the minutes passing like in a blur. He had the idea of finding a way to kiss her on the way to see her, but the idea completely left him. He was so content to just be by her side, nothing would make him feel as good as he felt now. Not even a kiss. He knew he was going to be exhausted tomorrow, but he didn’t regret for one second stopping to see his princess. 

Chat wished he could just stop time and stay like this forever. 

“So, tell me how you are doing?”

Chat jerked a little, startled out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Marinette looking at the stars, rubbing her arms a bit.

“I’m feline great!” Chat exclaimed, “this is the best night I’ve had in a long time.”

“That’s good. I was...worried about you,” Marinette said softly.

“Worried?” Chat asked, confused. He wasn’t sure what he did to cause her to worry.

“I was nearby when you were fighting Mathitician. Terrible name by the way. Anyways,” she paused and took a deep breath. “When you were leaving, I caught a glimpse of you. And you looked...sad.”

“Oh…” Chat said quietly. 

“I think all of Paris has noticed that something is up between you and Ladybug. I don’t want to pry, but... do you want to talk about it?”

Chat felt his good mood dim a little. He opened his mouth to try and change the conversation. He was having such a great time, he didn’t want it to be ruined by talking about his problems.

However... he had learned firsthand that Marinette was a great listener and oftentimes gave great advice. Maybe it would do him good to finally release the barrier that he created to hold his pain in. 

"Promise you won't tell anyone?" he asked softly.

"I swear, not a single soul," Marinette answered just as softly. He cleared his throat, thinking of how to start his tale. 

“Ladybug...” Chat started, then stopped. He took a moment to breathe and lick his chapped lips nervously. He glanced at Marinette and saw she wasn’t looking at him, but she moved to sit even closer to him, her comfort open and inviting. He sighed, placing a clawed hand over his upturned knee.

“Ladybug is an amazing person and a great hero. She’s strong, independent, powerful, brave and so much more. I look up to her in so many ways and always aspire to be more like her. But...she’s not without flaws. It took me a while to see, but she is frustratingly stubborn, very critical of herself and overwhelmingly responsible. She always takes on too much, thinking that she is the only one that can do it, and consequently is weighed down by her responsibilities. I’ve tried my best to be there for her, support her as best I can. Even if she wasn’t my partner, she’s still one of my closest friends. I _want_ to help her. But… I think I failed her.”

Chat took a breath, doing his best to manage the mixture of volatile emotions that swelled in his chest from remembering that day. 

“I think she suffered a great deal after the whole Miracle Queen disaster. And I was so focused on other things in my civilian life that I didn’t really see it. But when I finally noticed something was off, it was too late. I went to find her, to get her to talk to me and we...we had a fight. Each of us said terrible things to each other. There was much more I wanted to say, so much hurt I wanted to hurl back.”

He noticed Marinette shrink a little in her chair and hurried to finish his tale. The last thing he wanted was to ruin her night.

“I didn’t because hurting each other would get us nowhere. In the end she cried and screamed at me to leave her alone. So I did. I left and for a long time, I was angry, frustrated and confused. Hurt. Disappointed. All I could think about was how she hurt me and even worse, how I failed her. After a few months, I was finally able to process what happened without feeling like complete crap. And it was then that I understood better exactly _what_ had happened."

"What do you mean?" Marinette asked.

Chat understood what it was like to stuff all his negative emotions into a too small bottle. He knew intimately just how self-destructive that kind of coping method was.

"Ladybug always holds so much in, it was only a matter of time before she exploded. I'm not saying she was in the right. I still think she should apologize. But I don't hate her or am angry with her. Honestly, I don’t blame her at all for her outburst because none of us are perfect. Ladybug is a regular person, just like me and even she has a limit you know? So yea, that's what happened. I've tried my best to respect her wishes to this day and we found a new rhythm that works for us. Less jokes, more professionalism. It’s not the way it used to be, but it works. And she even smiled the other day! Which, makes me happier than I can say. All I have ever wanted was for her to be happy. If she can do that without me, well….I’ll just have to make due." 

Chat took in a ragged breath, feeling upset, but relieved in a way he hadn't expected. There had been no one he could talk to about that day for so long, some days he thought it was just a dream. He thought talking about it again would renew the hurt, but surprisingly it didn't. All he felt was surprised comfort tinged with a bit of loneliness. He didn't really understand why, could only attribute it to Marinette, who had never judged him or ridiculed him. Her just being next to him was a warm balm on his old wound.

Or maybe it was because subconsciously, he knew he had already forgiven Ladybug a long time ago. 

“But...how can you not still be angry with her? She hurt you, a lot,” Marinette asked. It startled him out of his thoughts, forcing him to remember where he was. 

Chat shrugged. At this point, it was counterproductive to his own health to stay angry at something he couldn't control. 

“I guess because if I was in her shoes, I’d probably do the same thing.”

Marinette gave him a disbelieving look and Chat shrugged again. 

“I can’t say I’m _not_ upset, but I’m not angry at _her_. Just at the circumstances that caused our distance. Staying angry doesn't solve anything and if given the chance, I want to close the rift between us, not make it bigger," he answered, trying his best to explain the strange mix of emotions. 

Marinette was silent for a moment before she turned back to him, an odd, sad glint in her eyes. 

“Do you...do you still love her?”

Chat turned away from her, hoping to hide the sudden blush that overtook his cheeks. Talking to his current crush about his old crush was kind of weird, even for him. Still, he didn't want to hide from Marinette or lie to Marinette. Especially when she looked so...strange. His heart picked up its pace a bit, each heartbeat a tiny hope that maybe her question was because she was starting to see him in a different light. However that didn't explain why her nose was scrunched up in the way he recognized that she was frustrated at something, nor explain why she refused to look directly at him. 

“Love has a lot of different meanings," he started, hoping he could explain himself properly. "Do I still love her? Yes, I’ll always love her. Am I still IN love with her? That...I’m not sure of anymore. It doesn’t mean I want to cut ties with her or anything!” he hurried to explain, then realized it was probably unnecessary to say so. He let out a frustrated huff of air, running his claws through his already wild hair.

“It’s just...in the time that’s passed, my eyes have been opened to different perspectives. My love for Ladybug, I can admit now, bordered on unhealthy. I’m sure it was part of the reason why she pushed me away. For all her strengths and weaknesses, the biggest one is how she prioritizes others before herself. It’s an admirable trait and a harmful one as well. I’m quite certain that it hurt her a lot to constantly reject me. So instead of being a pain in the ass, I decided it was better to let go. Both her, like she asked, and my love for her. Deep down, Ladybug will always be my first love. But...I don’t want her to keep hurting. If that means giving up on her, then so be it.”

He patted himself on the back for saying what he had been thinking for so long without stuttering or even crying! Kudos to him. He loved Ladybug, still does despite what happened between them. However there was loving someone and obsessing over someone and he was doing too much of the latter. A small part of him, one he tried to deny, was honestly a bit grateful for their argument as it finally gave him the chance to see just how pushy he was. And he was able to learn and gain that much more from it. 

“Well, just because I’m letting go doesn't mean I don’t want to see her again. I would give anything for a chance to talk to her like before, to be friends again. I...I miss her a lot,” he admitted and felt his eyes grow hot. He did miss her, a lot more than words could describe. 

“I imagine so,” Marinette said quietly, but then said nothing else. 

Now finished with his story, he cleared his throat a bit and asked, “Do you...do you think I’m doing the right thing?" 

He wanted reassurance that he was doing the right thing, that he was doing his best so _everyone_ could be happy. In all the times he had confided in Marinette, she had always guided him right. He knew for a fact she would tell him whether he was doing the right thing or not. 

It was why he was surprised when Marinette bit her lip and turned away. 

“I don’t know Chat. I...don't know...” Marinette said quietly, her voice cracking at the end. Chat deflated, feeling his earlier hopeful emotions crumble under the heavy air between them. He groaned internally, scolding himself for ruining their perfect night. Of course Marinette wouldn't know, why was he even putting that on her? He scratched his head harshly, turning to Marinette with a fake grin.

“It's ok! Forget I even asked," he laughed, the sound hollow in his ears. He moved his arms to the ground and lifted himself up from the balcony floor. He didn't need a watch to know it was late and it was probably best he head home. 

"I think it's time for the princess to go to bed for her beauty sleep," he said teasingly, holding a palm out to help her. Right on cue Marinette let out a huge, open mouth yawn and blushed heavily afterwards. Chat chuckled, raising to his feet. He clasped Marinette’s hand gently once it landed on his palm. He carefully lifted her from his seat, holding her close. Marinette grasped his hand gingerly, but didn't look him in the eye when he lifted her up. 

"I'm very happy I got to see you again, Marinette," he said softly, hoping to bring a little cheer into their ruined night. But Marinette only nodded once, her gaze still on the bell collar around his neck. He let out another minuscule sigh and stepped back. 

"Alright, I guess I'll see you-"

"Chat."

Chat shifted, glancing up at the bluebell eyes had had fallen in love with and had always reminded him so much of his lady. She looked lost and so small, it took all of his willpower not to gather her up in his arms to comfort her. He didn't understand why _she_ was so sad. Him and Ladybug's drama had nothing to do with her after all. Maybe she was also disappointed by the way their night ended. He would have to revisit her again and make sure she was all laughs and bright cheer then. 

"Thank you for telling me Chat. About what happened between you and Ladybug," Marinette spoke up, interrupting Chat's imaginary plans to take Marinette flying over the Paris rooftops. "I... I can't say if you're doing the right thing, but I know that Ladybug... she is so lucky to have you."

Chat blinked a couple times, before his lips curled into a bittersweet smile. “Thank you for saying so, Marinette."

He opened his mouth to bid his goodbyes when Marinette stepped closer to him. Her free hand lifted to cup his face tenderly, her thumb rubbing under his eyes as if wiping away imaginary tears. He stiffened, doing his best to stay strong under her kindhearted care. 

“I'm very happy I got to see you too, Chat Noir," Marinette whispered and her smile was completely at odds with the way she looked ready to break apart. He watched as her eyes welled with unshed tears, longing and heartbreak making the beautiful dark gems of her irides dull and subdued. Chat almost asked what was going on, but then a thought came to him. What if she had a similar experience with another friend? She hadn't told him about it before, but he didn't know everything about her. He felt even worse, having forced her to remember a bad memory. But if there way anything he did best, it was putting a smile on Marinette Dupain-Cheng's face. 

He grinned, putting as much dramatic energy as he could into his words. 

"Princess, fare thee well. Until we meet again," he said gallantly, followed by a formal bow and his fake smiled turned genuine when she gifted him with short, wet, amused chuckle.

"Get home safe you silly cat," she grinned. Happy that he successfully changed the mood, he gave her a two fingered salute and a wink before he leapt off her balcony.

Leaping through the city, he replayed the night in his head. Ladybug had asked him, begged him to leave her alone. So he did, left her to her own devices and own coping methods. Left her to handle her emotions on her own. Left her to suffer alone. Exactly what she wanted. And he wanted so badly to respect Ladybug's wishes. However... how could things get better if they didn't confront their issues face to face? He couldn't help but wonder, was he _actually_ doing the right thing by staying away? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, not sorry for the angst lol Now we all have a small look into Chat's feelings on the argument between him and Ladybug. I'd like to think that Adrien, for as hurt as he is, wouldn't hold a grudge over what happened. What he would want more is to know how to fix it in order to makes things better. I hope I expressed it well enough! 
> 
> Next chapter is more fluff and Adrien trying his hand at being a great potential boyfriend ;)
> 
> Little does he know, he doesn't have to do much to get Mari's attention lmao
> 
> Thank you all for reading and have a safe holiday!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 6! We'll finally get a little insight on Marinette's side of things and we'll get to see just how frigging cute Adrien is <3
> 
> Enjoy!

Adrien glanced at his phone as it beeped, notifying him of a message. It was Marinette, asking if he wanted to still hang out today.

**Marinette: Still up for today?**

_ Adrien: Of course! It would PAIN me not to see you again! _

Adrien sniggered, picturing her pout and her cheeks puff up at his pun. 

**Marinette: That was terrible**

_ Adrien: Aw come on Mari, don’t get so ryeled up.  _

_ Adrien: :D _

**Marinette: You are no longer invited to my house. >:)**

_ Adrien:  _ _ (°ロ°) ! _

Adrien scooped up his bag, his gift for Marinette tucked safely inside. His conversation with Marinette the night before was oddly relieving for as sad as he felt afterward. It felt good to finally talk about the past, to vent his emotions in a positive way. He meant everything he said. He didn’t hate Ladybug, nor was angry or even irritated. He didn’t blame her or curse at her for her coldness or any of that.

For as much as he loved Ladybug, he wanted her to be happy more. 

However, while laying in bed thinking, he had recalled the way she smiled at him after the battle with Mathitician. And it was at that moment that he knew he was in fact doing the wrong thing. Yes, he was right in giving her the space she needed, but it should never have gone on for this long. Adrien was positive, felt absolutely sure, that Ladybug missed him just as much as he missed her. And now they were stuck at an awkward impasse where neither was sure how to proceed. 

Well, that wouldn’t matter anymore soon. The last thought Adrien had before falling asleep was that he wouldn’t wait for the opportunity, he would create it. He had enough tiptoeing around each other and he refused to let things continue as they are. So long as she didn’t specifically tell him to stop being her friend, he would chase her and he would beg to be friends again if he had to. For years if he had to.

He vowed that the next time they saw each other, he would force her to talk to him. He had never wished for an Akuma to appear, but at that moment it was all he wanted. 

The next morning reminded him of his schedule. He had some lessons in the night, but he was able to get some time to hang out with Marinette. He beamed at his ceiling, excited for the growth between him and Marinette and excited at the prospect of getting Ladybug back. Things were finally looking up and he hoped it would only get better.

He grabbed the tin he bought to keep Plagg’s stinky cheese, opened his pocket to let his Kwami in and headed out.

It felt strange to be walking to Marinette’s home, so used to being driven around. He needed the air though and after begging Natalie he got permission to leave on his own, only if he agreed to be picked up later. It was a fair trade. He stopped by the fabric store near his home earlier to pick up a bundle of silk fabric. It was a deep blue ocean color. Marinette had been lamenting not having the money for it, but wanting it to complete a piece she had been working on for weeks. It was the best present he could think of in return for what she had given him. 

Marinette didn’t live too far from him. He didn’t even break a sweat and the tinkling of the bakery’s doorbell, once he arrived, was calming and exciting. Marinette’s father, Mr. Dupain, was manning the store today. He watched as the broad man heaved a heavy-looking sack of flour onto a shelf and turned around.

“Oh! Hello Adrien!” Mr. Dupain greeted him joyfully. Adrien smiled widely, greeting him in return. Tom Dupain was a jolly man with a library of jokes and puns and full of love. Adrien knew it was how Marinette turned out to be so great. Him and her mother too. 

“Is Marinette here?” Adrien asked. It felt weird to just go upstairs without permission, even though her parents were always ecstatic to welcome him into their home. 

Mr. Dupain nodded, “She’s finishing up some chores with her mother, but they should be done soon. Go on up!” 

Adrien bowed his head politely, walking behind the counter to reach the staircase that led to the upstairs apartment. When he reached the landing he heard a loud noise, followed by an equally loud crash. By the splintering noise, it was probably some sort of glass. He opened the door, walking quickly through the living room into the kitchen area. Mrs. Dupain-Cheng was kneeling on the floor, duster and pan in hand while Marinette picked up the bigger pieces of what looked like a porcelain plate. She hissed suddenly and he saw her suck on her finger, looking desolate. 

“Oh Marinette, what happened?” Mrs. Dupain-Cheng cooed, pulling her daughter’s hand to survey the damage. 

“Sorry, mama. I wasn’t paying attention and missed the dishrack. I tried to catch it…” She looked so sad, much sadder than a broken plate warranted. His heart clenched. Was she still upset about last night? He was beginning to regret telling her his sordid story. 

“It’s ok honey. How about you get the first aid kit and I'll finish up here.” Marinette’s mother replied softly, gently pushing her daughter away to finish cleaning up the mess. At this point Adrien cleared his throat as quietly as he could, not wanting to startle the women. Two heads snapped up to see him.

“Hello, Adrien!” Mrs. Dupain-Cheng greeted.

“Good afternoon Mrs. Dupain-Cheng,” he greeted back politely. 

“It’s Sabine dear! None of that now!” She brushed the last of the shards and walked to dispose of the plate remnants in the bin. She returned and embraced Adrian in a gentle hug. He was embarrassed to admit he always held onto her a little too tightly, absorbing as much motherly concern as he could. She didn’t say a word either way. 

“Hi Adrien,” Marinette also greeted. She was red, probably embarrassed to be caught being clumsy again. He watched her scurry away and return with a small, blue box. 

“Can I help?” Adrien asked, watching her struggle a bit to put the bandaid on. It wasn’t a bad cut, but it was still bleeding and it was always messy to patch a still bleeding wound. He knew that one by experience. 

Marinette groaned, defeated, “Sure, why not.” 

Adrien chuckled,  _ What a drama queen _ . 

He set his bag down on the table and recalling his training, cleaned and bandaged her wound in no time. Marinette raised a brow as if asking ‘where did you learn that?’. She looked tired, probably as tired as him based on the bags under her eyes. She didn’t sleep well and it was most likely because of him. His regret grew further. 

“Thank you,” she said gratefully. 

“You’re welcome.”

There was a beat of silence between them before it was interrupted by Marinette’s mother coming in with a plateful of snacks. They were buns, fluffy and doughy and filled with deliciousness. His mouth watered at the sight. 

“Dig in! We made plenty.” Sabine smiled at the young adults. 

“Thank you, Mrs. Dupa- I mean, Sabine!” Adrien said politely. 

He quickly grabbed one. It was a meat/veggie combo and oh so good. He stopped himself from moaning out loud. 

“Thank you, mama. We’re gonna head up if that’s ok?” Marinette asked

“Yes, but no funny business,” the matron wagged a finger playfully at her daughter. 

“MOM!” Marinette shouted in return, turning pink. She quickly stood up, grabbing the plate and Adrien laughed as he followed after giving Sabine a quick bow, thanking her for the treats. 

Marinette’s room was the same as ever, practically bursting with colorful fabrics and sewing accessories. She called it an organized mess. He called it madness. They respectfully agreed to disagree. He looked to her mannequin and saw a half-worked piece, a white halter top with a sweetheart cut out on the bosom. He wondered what her plan was for the bottom. Maybe a dress? He would have to ask her later. 

“So, how was the concert?” Adrien asked, sitting on Marinette’s chaise. She was quiet, pensive and somber and he was starting to get worried. Maybe he shouldn’t have come. 

“Ah!” she gasped, startled out of her thoughts. “It was great! I had a real good time!” She started fiddling with her phone. 

“Marinette, are you alright?” he asked gently. She didn’t say anything, didn’t look up or respond. Just stared blankly at her phone. He was wondering whether he should just leave when he heard her sniffle lightly. Then he saw liquid drip onto the black screen of her phone. Adrien leapt out of his seat, kneeling next to his dear friend. She was crying, her button nose red and thin tracks of tears sweeping down her cheeks. 

“I-I messed u-up,” she choked out, gripping her phone tightly. He maneuvered her fingers to let go of the object, wrapping his own fingers around hers. He tried to catch her eye, but she refused to look at him. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” he said quietly, using his other palm to clean up the wetness on her face. He was a bit relieved that she wasn’t sad because of him from last night, but he still didn’t like seeing her cry. 

“I...I have a friend...who I said something awful to. I didn’t mean what I said. I was just angry at myself and so frustrated at everything. I got so caught up in my own drama that I hurt him. That’s no excuse, I know that. And I’m not making excuses for myself! I just... I don’t understand how he can  _ not _ hate me after everything I’ve done! He should hate me, I deserve it! I don’t deserve him…” her voice broke a little at her last words. He frowned when he remembered her sadness from the night prior. His gut feeling was right in the end and his heart clenched as he remembered his own pain.

“Oh Mari, don’t say that,” Adrien sighed, but Marinette shook her head.

“It’s true Adrien. I’m an awful person and an even worse friend.”

“No, you’re not,” Adrien argued.

“Yes, I am!” Marinette cried out. 

“Marinette, I will sit here all day if necessary to convince you that you are not a terrible friend. So you made a mistake, everyone makes mistakes. No one is perfect Mari, not even us,” Adrien said firmly. He didn’t want Marinette to feel how he felt when he thought of Ladybug. When he thought of how he failed her.

Marinette gave him a crushed look, her eyes welling with tears again. He cursed internally, not wanting her to feel worse, but refusing to take back what he said. Early on he had the harsh lesson that sometimes, mistakes happened. And all you can do from there is learn from them and move on. 

“I want to tell him I’m sorry,” she choked out, gripping his fingers tight. 

“What’s stopping you?” he asked gently. Marinette looked away, her cheeks painted red. She looked frustrated and angry at herself, her brows furrowed into a deep V. 

“I...I’m scared. Scared that I’ll mess it up. Scared that I’ll say the wrong thing and push him away again...” she answered, sniffing lightly. 

“That’s an easy fix. We can summon Ladybug for some courage and luck,” he said cheerily, attempting to lighten the mood a bit. He almost groaned out loud when it completely backfired on him.

_ Crap, crap  _ he panicked, watching as Marinette’s tears hastened into outright sobs. It hurt to see her small shoulders quivering as she buried her face into her hands, muffling her sobs from his hearing. He cursed at himself for his stupidity, trying to think fast on how to rectify the situation. 

Then again...maybe it didn’t need rectifying. He let out a deep shaky breath and decided to follow his first instincts. He opened his arms and wrapped them around her like a, hopefully, warm, comforting blanket. He almost pulled away when Marinette stiffed at his touch, but seconds later Marinette’s hands moved from her face to clench tightly at his shirt and he held her even tighter as she sobbed. 

“I’m sorry...I’m so sorry,” she cried into his chest. Adrien wanted to tell her there was nothing to apologize for, but the way the words sounded, so lonely and heartbreaking, he somehow knew her apology wasn’t for him. He wanted to fix this for her. He wanted to find her friend and put them in a closet together until they made up and were friends again and Marinette would smile her usual Marinette smile. However, it wasn’t up to him to fix her private affairs. All he could do was comfort her as best he could. He also knew by experience just how cathartic a good, hard cry was. 

Moments later her sobs subsided and she pulled away, embarrassed. Adrien made a tsking noise. She was his friend, his best friend. He would be there for her no matter what. He grabbed some tissues from her table and brought them over, cleaning up her cheeks and nose. 

“I’m sorry…” Marinette said timidly. 

“Stop that. Don’t apologize for crying Marinette, there’s nothing wrong with that,” Adrien said as he wiped the last of her tears away. 

She finally looked up and he was gutted by the regret, sorrow and self-reproach he saw in her beautiful blue eyes, darkened a shade of blue he never wanted to see again. He worked to find the right words to comfort her, to tell her everything would be alright. 

“I think… if I was your friend, I wouldn’t care if you said the wrong thing so long as I could see that you were genuinely sorry. Sometimes, words don’t really matter. It’s the emotion and the sincerity behind it that counts.” Adrien tried his best to explain something he had come to understand, but felt frustrated that it didn’t come out the right way.

“Wait, let me try that again-”

“No, you don’t have to.”

Marinette let out a shaky breath and sent him a light smile. She looked better at least, no more tears running down her cheeks and no longer looking like she was being crushed under a terrible weight he couldn’t see. 

“You’re right Adrien. I need to put my fears aside and confront him, talk to him. Especially now that I know he doesn’t hate me,” she said firmly, nodding her head resolutely. 

“I think that is a great idea, Mari,” he said encouragingly, squeezing her hands to show his support. “And if he cares about you, he will absolutely forgive you, because he knows you would never intentionally hurt anybody. You are a good person Mari and a great friend. And if he doesn’t forgive you, then maybe you need a new friend.” 

He was resolute in his statement. Marinette was a good person and a great friend. She deserved only the best. 

Marinette smiled a little, “Thank you. Sorry about all this.”

“No apologies!” he said, gripping her hands supportively, “You’re fine. And I hope you know that I’ll  _ always _ be here for you Mari.”

He meant it. Though the way he said it, with so much emotion in it, made him flustered. He chuckled nervously. 

“So! About those pictures…” they needed a change and what better way than to bring back good memories. Marinette sniffled a bit and smiled, grabbing her phone again. She opened her gallery and they spent the next half hour going through all the pictures she took. The people, the stage, the venue. Alya and her bought food at one point so there were some foodies shots and selfies. The food looked good. 

“Here is when Jagged stone finally came on stage. He wore the craziest outfit, very on point with his brand. There were so many lights and I could feel the bass in my toes! It was incredible!” she gushed, flipping through the pictures to show some blurry shots of the eccentric rock star. He wished he was there to see it in person. 

“Who was that?” he questioned innocently, glancing at the boy who had his arms wrapped around her and Alya.

“That’s Jonas. They also came from Paris to see Jagged Stone.” Marinette laughed as she recounted her tale. “I was on my tippy toes trying to see and some jerk just planted himself in front of me. I was a second away from giving him a piece of my mind when Jonas scooped me up on his shoulders. I was a bit worried for a moment that I would fall or that he was trying to feel me up, but he kept his hands where I could see them. That and the view was totally worth it.”

She showed him a picture of the concert from her new perspective. It looked like an aerial shot a drone would take. He saw the crowds of people dancing to the music below, the colorful lights radiating in every direction and the best shot of Jagged Stone right in the middle, head back and microphone to his lips as he screeched his next verse. It was an amazing shot. 

“Wow! You should send this to him, it’s incredible!” Adrien said gleefully, hopefully covering the small bout of jealousy he felt over Jonas. 

“I think I will! It’ll be great wall art at least!” Marinette giggled. 

The next few pictures had them with their new friends, Jonas and his girlfriend Emma. He felt better knowing that Jonas was happily taken and Marinette assured him he was the perfect gentleman when he assisted her in gaining her new vantage point. He saw one picture of the backstage, the rush of the stage crew and roadies as they started to break down the stage. There was one picture with Marinette and Jagged Stone together and he burst at how thrilled Marinette looked. Like a kid meeting her idol superhero. He saw another group picture at the front of the stadium and an exclusive Marinette/Alya selfie and that was it. 

“Wow, I’m really happy you had so much fun. I hope I get to go see him too!” Adrien gushed. Jagged Stone was an amazing singer and he always appreciated his hard rock tunes. 

“We should go together next time!” Marinette shouted excitedly. Adrien grinned at her.

“Yes please!” he said a little too enthusiastically. He really needed to relax. 

“Well, before I start kicking your butt at UMS,” he drawled and Marinette’s expression exuded heavy disbelieving waves. “I got you something.”

He returned to his bag and found that he was nervous. There was nothing to be nervous about, it was just a present. It wasn’t even romantic! Still, his heart thumped a little faster as he took out the wrapped bundle and presented it to her. She sucked in a breath, eyes wide as saucers. 

“Oh my god!! Where did you find this?” her hands grasped the fabric carefully, as if worried even the slightest tug would make it rip. 

“I know some people,” he said vaguely, not wanting to admit he spent hours scouring through the internet until he found it in a store in Italy and practically begged the shopkeeper to ship it to the fabric store near his home. It wasn’t exactly the shade she had described, she had been looking for a lighter pastel aquamarine, but he hoped it would work. 

“It must have cost a fortune,” she lamented, rubbing the silk between the tips of her fingers. “I’ll pay you back, I promise!”

“Mari, this is a gift!” Adrien scolded, wagging a finger at her as her mother did earlier. “There is no need for paybacks or anything. Make something beautiful out of it, which I'm sure you will, and that will be payment enough.”

Her mouth opened and closed, then she jumped up and wrapped her arms around him.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” She cried in his ear, hugging him tightly. Adrien coiled his arms around her waist, holding her to him tightly. All his efforts, all his pain, was worth it for this one moment.  _ She  _ was worth it. Adrien felt the grey cloud around him start to truly dissipate, Marinette’s bright and warm presence piercing through its haze. He was looking forward to the good times of the future. A future that most definitely included Marinette, hopefully by his side forever. 

-

Monday came along and for once he was actually awake and aware during class. It was a vast difference from his zombie-like state last week. They had just finished lunch and Nino and he walked into the classroom to hear a loud groan, followed by soft comforting noises. He glanced up to see Marinette’s head banging lightly on the table. She was frustrated he noted and he walked up to his seat, facing her. 

“What’s going on?” He asked, reaching out to pat her midnight locks consolingly. She made another pitiful whine. 

“Some loser left a crappy review on her site,” Alya said angrily. 

“What did they say?” Adrien asked coldly, upset than anyone would dare say something against Marinette. 

“That my clothing choices were weak and my designs were terrible,” she wailed, voice a little muffled by the wood of her desk. Alya continued to rub her back sympathetically. 

Adrien was furious. They were wrong, so wrong! Even Clara Nightingale liked her designs! He saw and liked her post on Instagram as the celebrity gushed over her new top Marinette personally designed. Clara’s celebrity power was a great boost for any small boutique, so he figured Marinette would be flooding in orders. The haters were probably along for the ride too. 

“Don’t listen to them Mari,” he said fiercely, gripping the edge of her table tightly. “They don’t know anything about you or your designs. They’re beautiful and creative and you’re gonna be so much better than any of them!” 

“But they’re right though,” Marinette mumbled sadly. “Not about my designs! But about the clothing choices. I only have Alya and me as a model, even though I can make clothing of all different sizes. How can I reach my audience if I can’t even show them what I can do?”

Marinette’s boutique was successful, but he imagined it still didn’t give her the finances she needed for a full photoshoot. Adrien grinned widely. Because if there was anything he had connections to, it was models and photographers. 

“That’s an easy fix then. We’ll get Vincent to do a shoot for you!” He almost laughed at the incredulous expressions directed at him. 

“Vincent? Your very expensive Italian photographer Vincent?” Alya questioned dubiously. 

“Adrien, you know I can’t afford that,” Marinette said softly. 

“Who said anything about paying for it?” he loved the wide-eyed stare she sent him, grateful that this time he could do something for her. Besides, Vincent owed him a few favors and this was an easy one to cash in. He would make sure it THE best photoshoot ever and swore to rub it in the faces of anyone who dared go against Marinette for years to come. 

Adrien took out his phone and made a quick call. In under a minute he got the photographer to agree to a four hour shoot on Saturday at 2 pm, at the city park not too far from Marinette’s home. It was where he remembered modeling for some fashion magazine, the large white fountain a calming backdrop. Adrien had to agree to be his assistant, for his crew had that day off, but he didn’t mind, knowing he could rope Nino in too. As he closed his phone and glanced up at Marinette. He grinned when her shocked expression morphed into one of genuine puzzlement, then sheer glee. Her hands reached out to clasp his. 

“Adrien… I can’t….thank you!” she said gratefully. 

“Anything for you, Mari.” And he meant it. This time he didn’t shy back, forcing the emotion in his tone to express what he really meant. His heart gave a leap at her answering blush. He laughed when Nino gave him a sucker-punch to the shoulder while Alya cheered, hugging Marinette tight as the young designer wiped a few happy tears away. He couldn’t wait for Saturday!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading everyone! Let me know your thoughts.
> 
> Happy New Year!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm late, I'm late! Here's chapter 7 with some fluff, pining, a heated moment between the two (oh la la) and then more fluff! Gotta earn my T rating somehow lol
> 
> Enjoy!

The second the last bell rang, Marinette was already at the door, motioning for Adrien to hurry up. Adrien shook his head fondly as he stuffed his notebooks into his bag, waving goodbye to Alya and Nino on the way out.

"Thank you for agreeing to help me, Adrien! I'm so happy the girls agreed to model for me. This is gonna be awesome!" Marinette exclaimed happily, practically running out of the school's front doors. Adrien smiled, recalling how loud she screamed when Juleka, Rose and Mylene all agreed to model for her on Saturday. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen her so excited. 

"It's no problem," he grinned, following her down the street. They had a short walk as Marinette’s home wasn’t far. He always found it very entertaining that she lived so close to school, and yet was consistently late every morning. Just another one of her adorable charms. 

"Are you sure you don't need to go home for dinner?" Marinette asked, turning the corner that led to her block. 

Adrien shook his head. 

"I told Natalie I was staying at school to study for my college exams, then doing some fencing practice. Gorilla will pick me up later and he won't tell anyone where I really was," he smirked. 

"The older you are, the more rebellious you get Adrien. I approve," Marinette snickered.

Adrien shrugged, "It's about time, don't you think?"

"Definitely. Keep it up!" Marinette said with a wink that made him flush bright pink. They reached Marinette's home and he watched as she unlocked the side door that led to the back of the bakery. His nostrils were suddenly assaulted by the smells of her bakery. Thick, buttery pastries, sweet vanilla cookies, fruity tarts and more. It was enough to make him drool. He followed Marinette as she navigated through the bakery, vaguely wondering how she could live on top of a bakery and still be so fit. 

"Hi Papa," Marinette greeted her father, who walked through the doorway to see the two teenagers walking through the back of the bakery. 

"Hey Marinette, how was school?" he asked, giving her a big hug. 

"It was great! I'll tell you all about it later, Adrien and I have some stuff to do," she said, pulling away to head towards the stairs. 

"Good afternoon Mr. Dupain," Adrien greeted with a small bow. 

"If you call me Mr. Dupain one more time, I won’t let you eat any more of our sweets," Tom scolded, wagging his finger playfully. And while Adrien knew the man was joking, he was still terrified by the idea of no longer having any of Tom's baked goods. He stood at attention, a bead of sweat dripping down his temple. 

"Yes! Of course, I'm sorry Mr.- Tom. Good afternoon Tom," Adrien stammered, not used to addressing an adult so informally. 

"Much better!" Tom boomed before wrapping Adrien in a big hug. Adrien let out a grunt as he was squeezed so hard he felt his bones creak, but he loved every second of his hug. He closed his eyes for a moment to absorb the warmth from Marinette's father. He was always so warm and kind, it made his heart swell with happiness. 

"Do you need any help down here?" Marinette asked, though by the look on her face the last thing she wanted was to man the counter. Tom must have noticed because he laughed and shooed his daughter away.

"No, it's slow today. I got it," Tom said.

He pulled a plate of cookies from seemingly out of nowhere and handed them to Adrien. 

"I'm trying out some new cookies. I would love some feedback from my favorite customer," Tom said with a wink.

Adrien nodded his head quickly, his blonde hair flopping everywhere. He smiled ear to ear, taking the plate gingerly in his hands. "Yes, I can definitely do that!"

"Great!" Tom laughed and waved them away, heading back to the front. Adrien walked carefully to the stairs, his precious cargo tight in his grip.

"Papa spoils you," Marinette said with a chuckle.

"Marinette, you literally live with him. You can have his sweets any time," Adrien retorted dryly.

"True, but papa is very picky about who tries his experiments. Sometimes he doesn’t even let me try them. Consider yourself part of the cool crowd now," Marinette shot back with a grin, which made Adrien's smile grow even more. At least there was one father figure that liked him enough to value him and his opinions. 

They finally reached the apartment floor, where they both greeted Sabine who was busy preparing for dinner. He let mother and daughter chat for a moment, before allowing Sabine to envelop him in a warm hug. Two hugs in one day, a treat even better than sweets. He almost purred when she ruffled his hair in a motherly way, asking if he was eating properly. He assured her he was, but she still pushed a container of leftover food in his hands, leaving him juggling Tom's experiments and Sabine's mouth-watering food in his arms. He glanced at Marinette for help, but she only smirked and turned to head up to her room.

_ Meanie, _ he thought fondly, bowing to Sabine and expressing his gratitude for the food before following Marinette. Once up, he put the plates in his usual spot as Marinette closed the door.

“Ok, here’s what I have,” she started, walking to her closet. The doors were bloated and he suddenly imagined a sea of clothes washing over her small form. He stood close by with his arms out, readying himself to pull her away at the last second. Fortunately, no rescue was necessary. She yanked the doors open with a grunt and everything was still in place, though packed together closer than sardines. 

He grabbed a piece of a scallion pancake, almost moaned out loud at how  _ good  _ it was, and watched Marinette pull garments out from the closet. Pants, shorts, skirts, dresses, blouses, t-shirts, even a scarf or two flew past him, landing on the couch next to him. He watched as they landed on top of one another without fail. Her aim was super impressive. There was a jumpsuit or two and a little yellow patterned romper. He envisioned her wearing it and determined that she would look very cute. Too cute for the world to see. He had to make sure no one but him saw it. Finally, she grabbed a peacoat made of wool and a couple of other smaller jackets before closing the closet doors. 

“That’s a lot of clothes Mari,” Adrien commented, tucking the last bit of his pancake into his mouth before observing the pile of clothes.

"Yea, I know, but the more clothes, the better. We can pick the best outfits for each person," Marinette reasoned, which he nodded in agreement to. Wiping his hands on a tissue, he sat on the floor and got to work. They spent almost an hour agreeing and disagreeing on who would wear what, but by the end they selected two outfits for each girl. He grinned at the jacket he had chosen for Alya, knowing she would love it. Marinette put the clothes she had to adjust aside, close to her sewing machine, while he grabbed the bags he labeled with a permanent marker so they wouldn't get confused. He stood and tucked them near her door, so she wouldn't forget to bring them to school tomorrow. 

“What are you going to wear?” Adrien asked, returning to see her folding a long dress into a blue bag.

“Not telling,” Marinette teased, tucking the bag under her desk. 

“No fair!” he exclaimed. She laughed, standing up from the floor with her hands on her hips. 

“How about I model some prototypes for you instead?” she suggested. 

Adrien hesitated for a fraction of a second before nodding. Marinette, his crush, modeling in front of him? Oh boy. He gulped, already imagining Marinette posing in front of him. She guided him to her chaise and ordered him to close his eyes while she changed. He obliged quickly, shutting them tight. Just because he was attracted to her, didn’t mean he had to be a creep. 

He heard the sounds of clothes rustling and soft grunts as she struggled into whatever she was putting on. After another moment, she told him to open his eyes. He blinked against the light of the room, then choked and erupted into a fit of snorting laughter. 

“It’s so ugly! I love it!” he cried, holding his belly as he doubled over. She was wearing a pair of overalls, the pants cut into shorts, and a shade of green that was so hideous he wasn’t even sure what to call it. Under the suspenders, she wore a tye-dye T-shirt, its swirling colors almost making him dizzy. She also wore a pair of mismatching fuzzy socks, one bright pink, the other neon green. It was the worst outfit he had ever seen and he absolutely loved it. Marinette joined him, holding her sides as she laughed and they both enjoyed the rush of joy from such a silly thing. Once they calmed down, he sighed happily, rubbing at his cheeks. He hadn’t laughed that hard in a while. 

"I made this as part of a class activity in Ecole," Marinette giggled, rubbing her eyes. "Mama told me I looked so proud when I got home and showed them. I'm surprised it still fits me."

"It's...something," Adrien sniggered, relaxing into the chaise. 

Marinette smiled, then moved back to the closet. "Alright,” Marinette said between chuckles. “Let’s get the real party started.”

Marinette graced him next with a set of professional wear. A pair of high-waisted dark slacks and a tightfitting button-down white blouse covered by a dark gold blazer. She looked sharp and ready to battle any corporate jerk that dared stand in her way. He approved of the outfit, asking if that was what she was wearing on Saturday. She only grinned and moved on. Next, she put on a pair of jean shorts and a strappy top that cuff off a little under her waist. It showed more skin than he was used to seeing and he scowled to himself, unable to hold back from blushing. When she asked, he approved, but didn't dare say why. When Marinette stared at him for a little longer than usual, his flush deepened and he turned away, unable to handle her scrutiny. 

The next outfit was one suited for fall, a pair of comfortable looking jeans with a long-sleeve wool turtleneck. It was peach and fuzzy and looked amazingly warm. He smiled gently when she twirled, showing off the pom poms she added to her hat and laughing delightfully. He imagined her wearing that while they were on a date, maybe heading out to get a bite to eat or hiking in the mountains. He hoped it was hiking. That way he had an excuse to stick close to her. Hold her hand as they navigated through the fall foliage, then sitting next to one another as they admired the landscape before them. He sighed contentedly, lost in his musings. 

“Alright, I have one more!” Marinette gushed happily and Adrien blinked, startled. He immediately closed his eyes, letting her change in peace. It took her longer this time to change, so he let his mind wander again, envisioning several kinds of dates. Going to get ice cream or heading to the movies. Maybe even attending a fashion event together. He knew Marinette would love that. Honestly, they could go to sewers and he would still have fun as long as he was with her. 

Nevertheless, his fantasies had no chance of becoming reality until he gathered the courage to ask her out. It shouldn't be difficult, he already accepted his feelings for her. Also, he had a strong inkling that Marinette felt the same. It helped that everyone had been hinting at it for a while now. However, even thinking that she felt the same didn’t stop the nervous flutter in his stomach whenever he thought about confessing. What if they were all wrong? What if what they thought was romance, was actually deep platonic love?

He grimaced, biting his lip nervously. He couldn’t go down that road. He told himself he wouldn’t hesitate anymore. Besides, he wouldn’t know her feelings until he asked her himself. He just had to confess quickly, like ripping off a bandaid and then pray for Ladybug’s luck to shine on him. 

"Ok, you can open your eyes."

Adrien opened his eyes and, when he saw her, stopped breathing entirely. It was the return of her corset, the black lacy fabric just as form-fitting as before. The bright green ribbon running down the center of the corset caught his attention, reminding him of that day. Then he realized she didn’t have her biker jacket on and his blood warmed by more than a few degrees. 

Instead of a skirt, she wore a pair of skin-tight, faux leather pants that cinched at her ankles. Being a fan of leather himself, he knew how fun it was to wear. But on Marinette, it took on a completely different tone. He traced the way the leather curved around the muscles of her thighs and calves, the way it tucked tight around her waist and he flushed at how it curved over her bottom too. Before he had thought she looked like a punk goddess, ready to kick ass. This time, his thoughts roamed in a completely different direction, the imagery not appropriate at all, but still making his skin flush hot. 

_ She’s seriously trying to kill me,  _ he groaned softly, finishing his inspection. He tried and failed to hide how much he enjoyed her outfit. She was absolutely breathtaking. Mesmerizing. His eyes roamed up and down, absorbing the sight and searing it into his memory. 

“What do you think?” she asked, voice a little hesitant. 

It was amazing, magnificent, a true creation, dangerously hot-

“Really well made!”

…

_ REALLY?! _

He held back the urge to slap himself stupid, watching Marinette giggle endlessly. He was such a wreck. 

“This was a custom order from a Chat Noir fan. It’s missing a final piece, could you help me put it on?” Marinette asked shyly. 

A small sound caught his attention and his eyes whipped to her palm where she held a soft strip of black lace with a small pendant at the center. It was a bell,  _ his _ gold bell. Though much smaller in size, it was still an exact replica of his bell. 

He couldn’t take his gaze away from the bell. It was his bell and his colors painted on her skin. She had to know what she was doing. Except of course she wouldn't, she didn't even know he was Chat Noir! But she had to know what she was doing to  _ him _ . Especially with the way he had reacted last time she wore her corset. He made a mental note to find the person that commissioned her so he could both scold them thoroughly and thank them profusely. 

"Only if you want to," Marinette said softly, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Y-yea. I can help," Adrien replied. He took in a deep breath, to help control his nerves and shaking hands and reached for the small choker. He watched as Marinette smiled and turned around, giving him a luxurious view of the muscles of her shoulders and back. He gulped, eyes glued to the way her shoulders moved when she lifted her arms to move her thick hair out of the way. When he didn't move, struck by the sight of her nape and little baby hairs, Marinette turned her head slowly until he saw one beautiful blue eye.

"Everything ok?" she asked, and he wanted to say no, everything was  _ not _ ok. Except he recognized the mischievous lilt in her voice and realized that she was teasing him. She wasn't rattled or nervous at all, he was the only one acting like an idiot. He took in her raised brow and the little curl of her pink lips and he would have scowled at her if he had the mind to do so. 

_ Little devil,  _ he grumbled internally. He felt his heartbeat hard in his chest, the thump thump like a drum in his ears. However, he refused to let her be the only participant in this game of theirs. He smirked and clenched the choker in his fist. Channeling his inner Chat, he stood up from her chaise and stepped forward, stopping behind her. With barely centimeters between them, he could feel the warmth of her body as he looped the necklace around her and raised it to her throat. So focused on her, he heard her breath hitch when the fabric touched her skin. He continued to pull the fabric around her neck, until it was pulled taut and he marveled at the contrast between the black silky fabric and her smooth, pale skin. With nimble fingers, he quickly closed the latch, ensuring it was secure. However, he did not step back, choosing instead to trace the fabric with his fingertips gently, starting from the back. The fabric of the choker was soft, like silk and he brushed it all the way to the front, where he tapped on the little gold bell. He almost smiled triumphantly when he felt her shiver. 

He didn't stop to think about what he was doing. If he did, he would turn into a wreck and that was the last thing he needed. So he quickly pushed those thoughts away, letting in only thoughts of Marinette. His closest friend. The woman he was starting to fall in love with. Who he hadn't realized until this moment just how much he longed for. She was always in his mind, in his thoughts, in his heart. How did she dig so deep into his heart without him knowing? It was a mystery he wasn’t too keen on solving, not really caring. He really only wanted an answer to one question. 

Would she push him away if he tried to kiss her now? Because he wanted to. With every fiber of his being, he wanted to kiss Marinette. For days if she allowed it so.

"What do you think?” he heard her ask breathlessly, though a little nervously. 

“It’s purrfect,” he answered her, though not jokingly at all. He was tempted to trace the outline of her clavicle, but settled for playing with the bell that sat on the dip of her throat. This close he could smell vanilla and strawberry from her hair. He suddenly wanted to lower his head to her neck, to sniff her there too. Would she smell like strawberries? Or have a scent that was just distinctly Marinette. He fingered the little bell, making it ring a couple of times. He didn't dare step closer to her, to have them touch back to chest, but he wanted to. He wanted to hold her tightly to him and never let go. He flicked the bell once more, the bright tune making him shiver. He wanted to do so much that he knew he shouldn't, but he didn't stop himself from one single act. He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to the back of her neck, right under the clasp of the choker. She tasted of sweat and Marinette, the combination making his breath rattle. In a fraction of a second, he knew he made a terrible mistake. One kiss wasn't enough, wasn't even close to enough. He wanted more. More kisses, more of her. He wanted all of her. 

Marinette suddenly let out a surprised, audible gasp. The sharp noise shocked him, bursting the bubble around them and he panicked hard, pulling away so fast he almost tripped on his own feet. 

"I'm sorry!" he cried out, feeling his skin burn with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry!"

_ Stupid, stupid!  _ Adrien scowled, chastening himself thoroughly. He crossed her boundaries, he should have asked for permission.

He shouldn’t have been acting like such a creep! 

"It's alright! I didn't mind it!" she rushed to explain, turning around quickly to face him. He stared into her blue eyes, gnawing his lip anxiously. If he had his cat ears, he knew they would be pinned to his head. Feelings or no, he shouldn't have done that without her permission. He wasn't that kind of guy!

"I promise, you didn’t do anything wrong," Marinette said softly, interrupting his internal tirade. With a sureness he was envious of, she moved forward and stepped closer to him. He wanted to apologize again, but couldn’t talk when she placed her hands on his arms. Then she stepped closer,  _ much _ closer, than ever before. Until they were chest to chest, not a breath of space between them. He let out a gasp, not knowing what to do. This close, he could count every freckle on her cheeks, could see all the shades of blue in her eyes. 

“Adrien…” she whispered and he shut his brain off for a moment to look at her. She was nervous, but excited and hopeful. He cleared his throat, trying to get his bearings again, but the way she stared at him unsettled him. Like she wanted nothing more than for him to kiss her. Like she wanted nothing more than him. 

_ She wants this... _ he thought to himself, watching as she leaned even closer to him, her big bluebell eyes almost pleading and intense. When he didn't move, she blew out a soft, frustrated breath. 

"Do I really have to say it?" she said softly. She was so close he felt her breath on his lips. And just like that, all of his hesitations disappeared. There was no way this could be explained as platonic. Absolutely impossible for the glint in her eyes to be interpreted as anything other than romantic. She wanted him, just like how he wanted her. He was officially a goner. 

He brought his hands up to cup her face, brushing his fingers in her hair. He felt her chest rise and fall in time with her breathing, the movement hypnotizing him. He was going to kiss her. God, he was going to  _ kiss _ her and she wasn't going to stop him and it was going to change  _ everything  _ between them. His heart hammered in his chest, the sounds too loud for the quiet room. Glanced up into her eyes, he silently asked for permission, knowing she would grant it, but needing the confirmation. When she nodded enthusiastically, he leaned forward, praying that he didn't mess up their first kiss. At least he had plenty of time in the future to make up for it if he did. 

He shook when their lips brushed against one another, as light as the caress of a feather. 

The sudden knocking on her attic door had them jumping apart, both young adults breathing heavily and staring wide-eyed at one another. 

“Marinette! Dinner’s ready! Will Adrien be joining us?” Sabine called out from below. He saw Marinette reach up to touch where he marked her and he flushed to the tips of his ears. 

“Y-yes mom! We’ll be right there!” Marinette shouted back. 

_ Control yourself Agreste! _ he yelled at himself, willing away the desire pooled in his belly. He was so close to kissing her, he almost couldn't believe it. And she wanted to kiss him too. Their eyes met again and unfortunately, his desire came rushing back. Tinged with longing and a little bit of disbelief. He owed Plagg and Nino an apology and a bone-crushing hug. He let out a breathless gust of laughter. 

“Guess it’s time to eat,” he said softly, rubbing the back of his head shyly. 

“Guess so,” she said just as carefully, shifting in place. They glanced at each other again and flushed a deep red. 

Dinner was a messy affair. Marinette changed into something more comfortable, but it wasn't her clothes that had him staring at her more times than considered polite. It wasn't like he could help it, he was enamored through and through. Caught in her web, in her gravitational force. He didn't mind one bit. He would let himself get caught over and over again for the rest of his life if it meant one more second by her side. At least he wasn't alone in his longing. He caught her looking at him too, staring at him with a gaze full of mischief and anticipation. His father could burst in the room and disown him and even that wouldn't be able to remove the smile permanently etched on his face. When they finally finished eating, the food delicious as usual, he heard his phone ping and opened it, noticing the time. He opened the text he received to a message that his ride was here. 

"Thank you so much for having me," Adrien said with a wide smile, accepting the container full of leftovers that Sabine practically shoved into his backpack.

"Anytime honey. Next time you come, we'll make dim sum!" Sabine said cheerfully, making Marinette and Tom chuckle.

“Sound great Sabine,” Adrien cheered, already making plans to return for dinner. 

"You let me know about those cookies ok!" Tom called out.

"Will do!" Adrien grinned, accepting another container of food from Sabine. Marinette finally stepped in, pushing him out the kitchen before Sabine could give away any more of her containers. 

Waving goodbye, Marinette followed him down the stairs to the front door. She waved at Gorilla, who was patiently waiting for him at the curb. Gorilla nodded at her, his version of hello. Adrien signaled to Gorilla to give him one more minute and turned back to Marinette. Just in time for her to lunge forward and press a kiss to his cheek. Too close to the corner of his mouth to be considered anything but a tease. He remembered the taste of her sweat and skin from earlier and he stepped back, down one step, before he could pull her into him and devour her. 

“Payback,” she giggled mischievously. 

“You are  _ mean _ ,” he said jokingly, making her laugh.

"You started it," she said sassily.

"I seem to recall differently," Adrien hummed, raising a brow. They both knew exactly who started it, though it didn't really matter. He was ecstatic their almost kiss even happened. 

"Guess we'll have to see who wins next time," Marinette said airly.

"Promise?" Adrien asked, with a little more intensity than he meant to. Marinette blushed, turning and looking away from him. But the way she smiled was all the answer he needed. He was definitely a goner, without a doubt. 

"Go inside already," he grinned, making shooing motions to her, wanting her to go inside before he left and she rolled her eyes, complying. But not before reaching out to clasp his hand again. He intertwined their fingers, almost bursting with happiness at the way squeezed his hand tight. No more hesitating. 

“Goodnight, Marinette,” he whispered reverently, staring lovingly into her eyes. The blue of her irides was so bright it captivated him even more, her smile so wide it reached the moon. 

He etched her soft goodnight into his heart before he went home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, progress! Adrien is a sap and a goof and I'm a simp for confident Marinette. That's all I'm gonna say. :D
> 
> I hope you all liked this chapter, let me know your thoughts! Thank you for reading and stay safe everyone!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I'm so sorry I havn't updated in a bit. I lost a little focus on where I wanted to go next. I'm here now though with chapter 8! I hope I don't offend anyone with my atrocious Italian, I couldn't help it :D
> 
> Enjoy!

By the time Saturday afternoon arrived, Adrien was practically vibrating with excitement and anticipation. He met up with Nino on the way to the park, the other boy yawning widely as they bumped fists. When Adrien asked Nino if he could help out with the shoot, he wholeheartedly agreed. In return, Adrien promised boy's night on Sunday. He didn't mind, he had to make up for the night he fell asleep after all.

Not that it mattered, Adrien would have given Nino the world and more if he wanted just to have him around. After last night, he needed Nino's calm energy more than ever before. He fiddled with the strap of his backpack nervously, his phone in his other hand. He looked around the area as they approached the park entrance. The park wasn't bustling, but still had its fair share of people. A group of students hanging out; a couple of mothers gossiping as their kids played; a young woman drawing something while seated nearby and more were mozying about. The weather was perfect, warm and partly cloudy. He was glad he opted for cargo shorts and a short-sleeved button up as he felt the back of his neck grow a little damp. They walked further into the park and reached the fountain. Luckily nobody was around, so Adrien motioned for Nino to start heading over and claim their spot. He settled his backpack on the grass and searched the area for Marinette and Alya. 

"She should be here by now," Adrien said to the warm air, fiddling with his phone.

"Alya texted me. They're running late. Something about a last minute touch on one of Marinette's clothes," Nino responded with a shrug, playing a game on his phone. The loud beeps and crash like noises from Nino's phone dimmed as he furrowed his brows worridly. He opened his own phone to text Marinette and see if everything was ok. Then all his blood rushed to his face when saw their last messages to each other. He remembered exactly why he had been steadily avoiding his phone since last night. 

_Adrien: You really won't show me your dress?_

**Marinette: You'll see it tmr**

_Adrien: That's too faaaaar :(_

**Marinette: tmr. Not a second sooner**

_Adrien: no faaaaaair._

_Adrien: One picture. Half a picture!_

_Adrien: Please?_

_Adrien: Preeeetty please???_

**Marinette: Not. one. second. sooner.**

**Marinette: But...if you're good, I promise you can have a closer look later on**

_Adrien: Oh...._

_Adrien: Really?_

**Marinette: Of course. Good boys always deserve a reward~**

In all of his years alive, he would have never guessed that Marinette was an impossible flirt. And that she was frustratingly and _unfairly_ good at it. He tried his best to keep up, but it was like she had an entire dictionary of flirts and knew just how to use them to make him squirm. Once their mutual attraction was out, because almost _kissing_ was a definite clue they liked each other at the _minimum_ , the ante was upped and he struggled to keep up. He thought his experience flirting with Ladybug would help him. However, whenever he thought he had her with a good line, she would shot back with a distracting response or just _one damning word_ and he would be flustered and red as cherries for hours. As if that wasn't inevitable once he found out that Marinette liked him back. He could never catch his breath properly when around her.

It also didn't help that his imagination switch was permanently flipped to ON now, stray thoughts running like wildfire and distracting him in the best and worst ways. 

He hated it.

...That was a lie, he ** _loved_** it. 

Still didn't mean he couldn't feel frustrated at Marinette always getting the upper hand. 

Where was Chat's charm when he needed it most?

Adrien bit his bottom lip gently, letting his thoughts stray for a little. He would get his payback soon, but not today. Today was all about her. He set aside his plans for retribution and sighed dreamily when he glanced at the time. According to Nino, she would be arriving soon. He couldn't wait to see what she was going to wear. Based on the small clues she had given him, it would be her greatest creation yet. He was sure it would be gorgeous. Anything Marinette made was beautiful. On other people and on her. Especially on her. God, he _r_ _eally_ hoped she would keep her promise. 

As he stared at the words on his phone screen like they were scriptures from a prophet, someone calling his name pulled him from his thoughts. He looked up and around, searching for who was calling him. 

“Vincent!” Adrien cried out once he saw the photographer walking towards them. He waved him over, locking his phone screen and pocketing it. 

“Adrien! The weather is perfect today!” he said dramatically as he approached, camera bag slung over his white t-shirt.

"I know, I'm so happy the forecast was wrong," Adrien grinned, shaking Vincent's hand in greeting and leaning in for a quick kiss. Vincent nodded to Nino, who tipped his baseball cap back in greeting. 

“Thank you again for doing this. My friend is gonna be so happy!”

“That's right, this is for your amante right?” Vincent asked with a smirk. Adrien cleared his throat, working hard to keep his skin color it's normal pale hue. 

“She’s not- I mean she’s just a friend!” he argued, then grunted when Nino elbowed his side hard. “I mean, not just a friend, but not a lover either! Not yet at least. Ah, I wasn't supposed to say that. I-” He stopped when both men started to snicker. Then Nino burst into laughter, holding his side tight. He huffed, running a shaky hand through his hair. It seemed all he knew were jerks lately. 

“Can we please just get ready?" he growled, crossing his arms irritably. 

“Of course signor. We must have the stage ready for your bella amore!” Vincent cried out dramatically and Adrien covered his face with his hands, groaning. It looked like not even Nino's calm energy would be enough to help him today. Especially because he was _not helping._

“Yes _signor,”_ Nino teased. “Let’s get the stage ready.”

Adrien shoved him hard. 

Between them, they were able to get set up fairly quickly. Vincent changed his mind at least three times on where to put the reflectors and backdrop and Nino and he argued as they put together the portable changing room, but they finished managed to finish without further trouble right as Adrien noticed Mylene and Ivan walking towards them. 

Adrien thought it was very nice, a kinda sweet, that Ivan agreed to come with his girlfriend for moral support. Mylene and Ivan were definitely relationship goals. 

"Hey!" he greeted the couple, 

"Hi, Adrien! Wow, this looks so official," she said in her usual soft tone. 

"Nothing but the best for Mari!" he smiled, then flushed as he thought about how that sounded. Mylene, bless her soul, didn't say anything, but he didn't miss the way her eyes twinkled with delight. 

If this was how things were now, he couldn't even begin to imagine everyone's reactions once him and Mari were official. He hoped they didn't tease him too hard. 

"We have the portable changing room ready if you'd like to change?" he said, motioning towards the tall curtained room that more resembled a beach shower stall than a room. 

"Oh, thank you. I'll be quick," she nodded, fiddling with the bag straps that held her clothes. 

"I'll make sure no one bothers you," Adrien reassured her with a gentle smile. Though he had gotten used to changing in public, he imagined it wasn't something Mylene would be down for. He hoped to make today as minimally stressful as possible. "Ivan, if you stand to the left of the front curtain, you'll be right where the locks meets with the wall inside." 

Ivan nodded gratefully and escorted Mylene to the changing room. Right as she entered the room, he heard a pair of female voices and turned to see Rose and Juleka walking towards them. Rose met them with her usual excitement, squealing at the sight of Vincent's equipment. Nino led them to the folding chairs Vincent had brought on Adrien's request while he went to grab his backpack. He had put himself on makeup duty, having learned from his own assistant what was needed for a shoot.

"You know a lot about makeup," Juleka teased when Adrien reapplied her lipstick in smooth, sure strokes.

"Brianna is a good tutor. Hey, if modeling doesn't work out, think I can make a career as a makeup artist?" Adrien grinned, capping the tube. Juleka laughed brightly, sending him a thumbs up.

"My turn!" Rose piped up, closing her eyes when Adrien finished gathering his supplies and got to work. 

"Finally! I thought you would never get here!" Nino exclaimed. Adrien wanted to turn to see Alya, and subsequently Marinette, but the shimmer on Rose's cheeks just wasn't cooperating with him. 

"Don't look at me," Alya huffed and he heard Marinette's voice ring in the air like singing Angels.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry!" she apologized. She sounded a little winded. Had they ran here?

He passed his brush a few more times and stepped back to inspect his work. Finally, both sides were balanced, the shimmer light enough to catch the sunlight perfectly and make her eyes pop. 

"All set," he breathed out, proud of his work. 

Rose's thanked him and then grinned slyly at him. "Make sure you compliment her kay?"

Adrien cocked his head, confused. Rose gripped his chin with her hand and turned his head, forcing him to face their newcomers. And he lost his breath again, struck stupid by the sight before him. 

Marinette had been vague enough all week about what she was going to wear. While a part of him wondered why she didn't just tell him it was the Chat Noir fan fav, the majority of his brain decided it didn't matter anymore. The outfit was changed a little; dark skinny jeans replacing tight leather and her biker jacket covered her shoulders. But she looked just as amazing as he envisioned and he groaned, knowing he had his work cut out for him. 

How could he focus when she made everything she wore look so damn good?!

“Signorina! That jacket is incredible, very stylish!” Vincent exclaimed loudly, gathering Marinette up to kiss her cheeks in greeting. Adrien couldn’t agree more. He wanted to compliment her too, but his mouth and throat decided to transform into the Sahara desert.

“Thank you!” Marinette said brightly, blushing under all the attention. 

Rose let go of his chin and sent him a wicked grin before shooting forward to jump into Marinette's arms.

"I want a jacket like that too. It's hot!" Rose exclaimed and laughed when Marinette blushed. The girls talked for a bit and things got even livelier when Mylene joined them wearing her first set of clothes. 

Adrien shuffled his feet a little, gathering his courage. He could do this. He was going to walk up to Marinette, compliment her politely, then confidently walk her to the fountain and start their day. 

Except that didn't happen because the moment their eyes meet, and saw her lip curve up just slightly, all he could think of was their promise and an almost kiss.

 _Crap,_ he cursed internally. Unable to stop his blood from running completely north, he just accepted his fate. He covered his face as his blush grew so spectacularly everyone started to laugh and pat him on the shoulder, consoling him. Great, one more thing they were going to tease him about later on. 

"You look really nice Mari," he mumbled from between his fingers, glancing at her behind his cover. Rose cooed and Juleka giggled, making Alya laugh even louder. Even his ears felt hot he noted as his thumbs brushed them. 

"Thank you, Adrien," Marinette replied without tease, smiling kindly at him. 

“We are losing daylight, let’s get started! Signor Adrien, bring your fidanzata over. Hurry, hurry!” Vincent commanded, already walking away. 

Adrien made a noise between a howl and a groan, but didn’t correct him. He cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair. Well, there wasn't any reason he couldn't go through the second part of his plan. He turned to Marinette, holding out his arm.

“May I escort you to your seat?” he asked playfully. He dutifully ignored the loud squealing from the ladies in the group and Nino’s and Ivan’s loud whooping, egging his friend on. Marinette placed her delicate hand in his, puckering her lips a bit.

“Thank you, kind sir. That would be wonderful,” she said, playing along. She raised her nose high in the air, mimicking the air of someone in royalty, making him snicker. They walked together in comfortable silence and he sighed blissfully. This was what he had to look forward to once he asked her to be his. He wasn't sure there was anything else he wanted more.

Well, there was one other thing. But that would come with time too. 

When they arrived at the fountain, Vincent was already in full work mode, moving left and right as he shifted Marinette around. 

“You will sit here. No, no here. Wait. Hmmmm.” 

“Is he usually this eccentric?” Marinette pondered, waiting for the photographer to make up his mind.

“He’s pretty tame today, actually,” Adrien commented, chuckling when Vincent pulled her in another direction. 

“Yes! I got it! Signorina, you will stand here like this!” he moved her to sit on the lip of the fountain. He motioned for her to cross one leg over the other, bracing her arms behind her on the fountain and leaning back. Adrien worried for a moment that she would fall in the water, but before he could intervene Vincent pushed him out of the way and lifted his camera. 

She could have been a model with how naturally she posed for the camera. As he held the reflector in the direction Vicent commanded, he wondered if he could convince her to model with him. His gaze lay uninterrupted on her, watching her as she posed. Her hips when she cocked them daringly. The muscles of her legs when she crossed them. The curve of her shoulders when she removed her jacket, revealing freckling and soft skin. And of course, the bell. The bell that chimed with every movement. Sometimes it called him, his gaze flitting down to see it, then catching the curve of her collarbone and base of her neck. She turned, dipping her jacket down to her elbows. She curved her shoulders and Adrien stared at the spot he dared to kiss. He licked his lips, the taste of her skin still present and tantalizing. 

He really was a goner, wasn't he?

“Adrien!”

He jumped, almost a foot in the air, when Nino shouted in his ear. He was so focused on Marinette, he barely heard them prep Juleka. Adrien whirled to the other boy, wide-eyed and feeling like a rabbit caught under the headlights. 

“We’re waiting for you,” Nino said with a smug grin. Adrien looked around, noticed everyone was looking at him. Then turned to see Marinette, who was sending him the smuggest smirk he had ever seen.

 _Damn,_ he cursed internally. Another point for her. He was embarrassed at being caught so shamelessly staring. He sent a playful glare at Marinette, scrunching his nose when she giggled. He was going to get her later for sure. 

Thankfully Marinette kept her distance when it was time for the other women to model. The next to pose was Juleka, who completed her purple dress with black heels and a black jacket. She felt a little awkward, so Adrien helped guide her, coaching her on poses and body movement. Soon, she felt comfortable enough to move on her own and he was excited to see she was enjoying it. She changed to the next outfit, a professional set of dark slacks with an aquamarine blouse ruffled at the sleeves and a wool peacoat. Adrien gave her two thumbs up when she finished, smiling as she beamed at him in thanks. 

Rose followed after, her cute pink romper made for summer. It looked comfortable, adorable and the girls would love it. It would be a huge hit in Marinette’s store, he was sure. Rose, who was already a ball of energy, was a natural and needed no coaching. She smiled her way into the camera, making everyone laugh and have a great time. Her next outfit was for fall or winter, a soft white long sleeved turtleneck accompanied by lilac leggings and snow boots. The snow boots weren’t part of Marinette’s selection, but it paired really well. 

After Rose, Mylene took the stage. She had on one of Marinette’s more colorful ensembles, her T-shirt a mixture of bold yellow, orange and red. She was so shy that Adrien had to pause more than once to coach her. He was grateful that Vincent, who was used to working with professionals, gave Mylene time to relax. He didn’t bark at her too much, which helped a lot. Her next outfit was more subtle, blue jeans with a plain t-shirt, but the colorful scarf wrapped around her neck gave it the necessary pop. 

Alya was last, modeling like a champ. She wore one of Marinette’s signature dresses, a yellow and orange gown that reached to her knees. She accompanied it with a stunning headdress that complimented her dark skin really well. Her second outfit was very Alya. Dark blue skin-tight jeans, a plaid button down shirt covered by a green bomber jacket and black boots. Adrien sniggered when he heard Nino’s loud cheering and appraisal of his beautiful girlfriend. He was glad his picks worked out well. 

“Ladies, you were all wonderful!” Vincent said graciously, fiddling with something on his camera. Adrien finally breathed, wiping away the sweat on his brow. Being an assistant was tough work. He would never take their jobs for granted. 

“Signor Vincent, is there time for one more?” Marinette asked hesitantly. Adrien looked up after taking a swig of water. She had agreed to only model one outfit so the others had more time under the camera. They did finish early though… 

“Yes, I believe so,” Vincent said with a slow nod. Marinette showed him the contents of her bag and Vincent glanced over at Adrien right after. Adrien frowned at the man's slow, mischievous smile. He had a bad feeling the dress hidden in her bag wasn't going to be good for his heart. 

“Alright, go change. Quickly now!”

He clenched his water bottle tightly, heart jumping from a steady tempo to a jackrabbit, erratic speed. She had been teasing him for days about her dress and now he was finally going to see it. Excitement made his lip tremble and forced him to clear his throat. He lifted his bottle for another satisfying gulp of water and promptly choked when Marinette stepped out wearing, in his opinion, _the_ most exquisite dress he had ever seen.

The white halter top he had seen on her mannequin was sewed onto the ocean colored fabric he had gifted her all those days ago. The seam sat high on her waist, wrapped by a blush sash a touch darker than the bottom. Marinette managed to create a high-low hem, ruffled skirt with the silky fabric. The length in the back was perfect, just reaching her ankles. The front was modest, ending at the top of her knees. However, what impressed everyone the most was the way she manipulated the fabric to capture the sun's rays and make it sparkle without adding any additional gems or acceosries. She shimmered, like a goddess from the sea. He stared, smitten, as she walked closer to them in short, strappy white heels. 

The group complimented, all awed by her hard work. Vincent stepped closer, letting out a low whistle. "You designed _and_ made this?” 

Marinette nodded proudly. 

“You have incredible talent signorina Marinette,” Vincent handing out praise was rare. He wanted to hug him when he saw Marinette's grateful expression, eyes watery as she bowed a little in thanks. 

“Alright! Let’s begin!”

Adrien grabbed his reflector silently, fingers trembling a little. He was the luckiest cat in the entirety of Paris to earn the affections of a woman as beautiful and creative as Marinette. He watched her this time through the lens of a man hopelessly in love. Enamored by the way the sun shone on her blue dress. Melted when he heard her bright laughter. She was so incredibly talented, a part of him almost felt she was too good for him. How could he have been so stupid all this time. Calling her 'just a friend' was equal to an insult. He knew he had been blinded by his feelings for Ladybug, but he knew that wasn't an excuse. He was just a blind, oblivious idiot. 

Well, at least she was giving him a chance to make up for his mistakes. He sighed happily, matching Marinette's luminous smile with his own when their eyes met. He was going to do his absolute best to be good enough to be by her side. To ensure she was happy and content for the rest of her life and make sure she never regrets giving him a chance. 

"Done!" Vincent called out triumphantly. Marinette and the others cheered, gathering close to hand out high fives like candy. 

Adrien lowered his equipment, eyes following Marinette as she stepped closer to Vincent. He was showing her something on his camera, both speaking too low to hear. He saw Nino walk closer to him, his best friend ruffling his hair affectionately. 

"You really love her, don't you?" Nino asked softly. 

"I do. It took me too long to realize it, but I do. With all my heart," he answered truthfully, feeling like he could burst with the intensity of his emotions. 

“Signor.”

Adrien looked up, feeling a little wary. He had known Vincent for years and though he could call the man a friend, he knew he would betray him the second he had a chance. How soon would everyone find out about his most embarrassing moments from today? 

“Marinette has given me permission to share her photos with you. I will send them once I am finished," Vincent finished with a wild grin. 

"Ah, I see. Thank you," he mumbled, nodding too many times. A picture of Marinette? What better present was that? 

_Wait, was this what she meant by a closer look?_ he thought suddenly. He groaned internally, really hoping a picture wasn't what she meant by a closer look. She couldn't be that mean. That would be cruel and unusual punishment. Especially since he fulfilled his end of the deal!

Vincent laughed, making him jump. He had to stop getting distracted by his own thoughts.

"Oh Adrien, this is by far the greatest gift I could ever receive," Vincent said happily, making Adrien scowl. He clapped Adrien’s shoulder and left him to pack up, joining the other group with loud, dramatic exclamations. 

"Hey, could I get the ones of Alya?" Nino asked him.

"I don't think I'm the right person to ask," Adrien answered him, leaning down to pick up the reflectors. 

"Yes, you are because you're gonna hang out with Mari and I wanna make sure you ask before you guys start making out."

Adrien stumbled, almost dropping hundreds of dollars worth of equipment. He whirled, staring widely at his friend, and opened his mouth to argue. 

"Am I wrong?" Nino interrupted with a smirk, crossing his arms victoriously. 

Adrien didn't bother to answer him, choosing to stomp away to Vincent's car. He forced _all_ thoughts of making out with Mari because if even one escaped, he would be a mess for the rest of the day. 

And of course, because everyone was out to get him, he stumbled again when he heard Vincent loudly air out his most embarrassing inner troubles. 

"Marinette, thank you for giving me the chance to see signore Agreste act his own age. I have never seen him so enraptured, captured by the grips of amour! He is still young not yet mature, so do guide him well," Vincent said with a sagely nod towards Marinette.

Adrien didn't even bother controlling his blush, too tired to even care. What was he, an open target for everyone to tease?!

"I will sir," she giggled and the sound softened his ire a little bit. "Thank you again for helping me, I really do apprecaite it."

“It was my pleasure sweet Marinette. Your talent is extraordinary. The industry is hard and ruthless, but I believe you have the fortitude and passion to make it," Vincent finished, clasping her hands between both of his. 

“Oh… thank you. I...really needed to hear that!” Marinette gushed gratefully. Adrien sighed, turning around to continue towards the car and letting go of his plans to main the photographer. He couldn't exactly hurt him after he praised his future girlfriend so beautifully. He would just have to find a less violent way to get revenge now.

“Buona fortuna, young Marinette! I will hopefully see you again soon.” Vincent winked, before walking towards him. Adrien, who stopped to wait for him, took the chance to thank him. Then he made his swear not to mention this day to anyone. Ever.

Vincent just smirked down at him and entered the van with a dramatic wave. Adrien watched the van roll away knowing that by tomorrow, everyone would know what happened today. He wasn't looking forward to the earful he was going to get from Brianna, who had been an AdriMari shipper since the day Marinette brought him treats one time and demanded to be the first to know when they got together. 

He returned to the group and stepped between Nino and Marinette just as he heard Alya exclaim, “Damn girl, that dress is gorgeous!” 

_It sure is,_ he thought, pushing his worries away to focus on Marinette. This close he could truly appreciate the intricacies of the dress, the way the ruffles flowed together and the seamless way she had tied the fabric together. She must have worked on it for weeks. 

Marinette smiled widely at everyone, “Thank you all again for doing this. I really appreciate it!”

“Of course Marinette! We’re happy to help,” Mylene said shyly. “It was really fun!”

“And we got some free clothes out of it too!” Rose giggled, twirling around in her new clothes.

“It was the least I could do! It helps that it’s also free advertising,” Marinette winked at them making everyone laugh. 

He waved goodbye as they left, Marinette promising to show them the pictures once she got them. Soon it was Alya, Nino, Marinette and him standing in the park. 

"We're gonna head out. You'll be okay getting home?" Alya asked the duo.

"Yup," Marinette nodded, stepping closer and wrapping a hand around his bicep. Her hand was soft, with small callouses that endeared him. He cursed his heart for almost giving out on him from that one tough. How was he going to survive later today?

"Okay, see ya," Alya waved, giving the duo a look before grabbing Nino and leaving. 

"Don't forget!" Nino called out and Adrien almost flipped him off. Almost.

Marinette looked up at him. He tried his best not to stare at her painted lips.

"Forget what?" she asked, tilting her head, trying to catch his eye. 

"He wants Alya's picture," he answered, keeping his gaze at a point just above her shoulder. If he looked at her now he was going to kiss her in broad daylight and he was determined to ask her out first _before_ they locked lips. So he needed to calm down or he was going to ruin everything!

"Oh. I'll send them to her later. Are you ready to go?" Marinette asked, looking at him through her lashes.

Adrien gulped, raising his unoccupied arm to rub his neck nervously. 

"Y-yea, your house?" he stammered out.

"Mhm. I have a promise to fulfill after all." and the playful, coy smile she sent him should be registered as a crime with the way it completely knocked all his breath from his lungs. 

"You are _evil_ _,_ " he growled, staring churlishly ahead, refusing to give her the satisfaction of making him flustered. Again.

Marinette giggled and stepped onto the park path, leading them out of the park. Marinette led the way, her arm a tether to the ground and a guide for him to follow as he pictured making out with his future girlfriend while she wore his new favorite dress. 

"So, what do you think of-"

A loud crash reverberated in the air, interrupting Marinette mid-sentence. There was a beat of silence, then a chorus of terrified screams followed. He turned towards the noise just in time to see a car flip in the air. 

He hissed in a similar way he did when donning black leather and cursed viciously out loud. Of course, _of course,_ there was an Akuma. Because Hawkmoth had nothing better to do than continuously ruin his love life. He heard more screams and moaned, knowing he had to leave and join Ladybug soon. 

"I-I forgot, I actually have a meeting with my Chinese instructor," Adrien lied, cringing at how lame that sounded. He hoped Marinette didn't interpret it to mean he didn't want to be with her. Because he _really_ wanted to be with her. Preferably in her room, while they kissed like reckless teenagers. 

"That's okay, I forgot my parents asked for help at the bakery today!" Marinette chuckled nervously, stepped away from him. 

He hated the way he felt cold when she stepped back, but knew it wasn't the time to dwell on it. He heard another loud crash and winced. 

"I'm gonna take you home first," he stated, reaching down to grab her hand.

"I can get home fine, promise!" she said quickly, trying to pull away. But he held firm. 

"There's an Akuma running amock Mari and you're a magnet for trouble. I'm not taking any chances," he said resolutely. He waited until Marinette finished her internal conflict and nodded to him before setting off in a fast sprint. He tried to be quick while respecting that she was wearing heels. He was tempted multiple times to just pick her up and carry her home, but he knew she would not appreciate that at all. They finally made it to the bakery, pushing past a group of teenagers to get to the front door.

“Stay inside until the Akuma is gone,” he said quickly, pushing her through the door.

“Wait wait! What about you?!” Marinette cried out, stumbling through the doorway. "Wait here for Gorilla to pick you up!"

“Don't worry, I'm only a few blocks away. I’ll be fine!" he tried to reassure her. 

"At least let me ask Papa to take you home," she pleaded, but Adrien shook his head. He leaned in and kissed her cheek, close to his prize, where he really wanted to be. 

"Hold true to your promise later okay?" he whispered heatedly as he stepped back, drowning in her midnight blues. He loved the way her cheeks flushed, the way she sputtered and gazed away from him like she used to. He grinned triumphantly at her reaction. Finally, he was on the scoreboard. 

“Call me the second you’re home,” she pouted, squeezing his hand before letting go and stepping back into the bakery. Adrien beamed at her.

“Will do. See you later!”

He waited until she was inside before running in the opposite direction, twisting into an alley and hiding behind a dumpster. 

“We gotta go Plagg,” he hissed, pulling his Kwami from his shirt. 

“Aw man. I was having such a good dream too,” Plagg grumbled. 

“Sorry, buddy. I’ll make it up to you later. Plagg, claws out!”

**-**

Chat ran swiftly through the streets. He dodged an incoming projectile and landed in the middle of the road, staring down the middle-aged man dressed like a cross between a football coach and a football brawler. He had oversized shoulder pads, hardened gear and cleats with deadly points. A football guy on steroids. Great. 

“No one fires me!” he bellowed and Chat rolled his eyes. He was really getting tired of these guys. Ladybug hadn’t arrived yet so Chat put himself on distraction duty, attempting to wear the akuma out while causing minimal damage. Luckily, as a close combat foe, the akuma mainly focused on trying to bash Chat’s skull in. 

Chat grunted as a stray jab caught him on the chin. He parried a couple of moves, going low to block a vicious kick. Distracted, he saw the akuma’s arm raise and knew he had no time to dodge. He closed his eyes, bracing for the hit. But before the akuma, who pleasantly called himself the Destructer, could hit him, a fierce battle cry shot through the air. His eyes snapped open to see the Destruter fly sideways, Ladybug landing nimbly from a flying drop kick. 

“Thanks, Ladybug,” he gushed gratefully. 

Ladybug turned and nodded, before freezing in place. She was staring at him, as if seeing him for the first time. Her blue eyes were almost hidden by her bangs, but she looked like she needed to say something and she needed to say it right now. He was confused by her actions and a little wary. Ladybug almost never broke away from a fight, especially to talk. That was usually his M.O. 

“Ladybug?” he said quietly, taking a small step towards her. She blinked and shook her head swiftly. 

“Chat, we need to-” she started, but couldn’t finish as Chat gasped, interrupting her. She didn’t notice Destructor had already recovered from her attack and was rampaging towards them. 

“Watch out!” he cried out, pushing her aside and using his baton to leap over the akuma. Ladybug quickly recovered, swiveling to face the enemy while brandishing her yoyo. He quickly looked over to ensure she was alright and he was surprised at how _angry_ she was. 

“Chat! Wait!” she cried out, turning wild eyes to him. Was she trying to tell him something? He didn’t understand. But an unfocused ladybug wasn't good. He saw the akuma swiftly turn and like an enraged bull, tackled them head on. 

"Focus LB!" he shouted, not meaning it to sound like a reprimand, but needing her head in the game. He dodged another tackle and saw her step aside, spinning her yoyo to create a shield. She didn't answer him, but he saw when she snapped to attention. Chat breathed out, relieved, and refocused on the battle at hand. 

It was a rough, dirty, close combat battle. Chat winced anytime the akuma got a hit on him and growled whenever he landed one on Ladybug. It was tough to get to the treasured piece, a pin on his chest Ladybug guessed housed the evil butterfly. Anytime he got close enough to grab it, Destructer would grab his arm and send him flying. After another ruthless kick, Chat landed hard on the concrete ground ways away, coughing to get air back in his lungs. 

“Chat!” he heard Ladybug run towards him, kneeling down. 

“We need a plan,” he wheezed. He prodded his side carefully, but nothing was broken. Only bruised.

 _Good._ he thought to himself, picking himself up. 

Ladybug looked up at the Destructer, who stopped moving around to stare at them calculatingly. The pink marking around his eyes showed that Hawkmonth was currently speaking in his mind. It gave them a much needed chance to breathe.

“We can’t even get close to him,” Ladybug sighed. Chat focused on her face, knowing her thoughts were running a mile a minute. What could they do to distract him?

“Maybe it’s time for lucky charm?” he suggested. Ladybug agreed, calling for her power. A red and black bullhorn landed in her hands.

“What the heck am I supposed to do with this?!” she howled. The duo caught Destructer staring menacingly at them and in position to charge.

“Ladybug!” Chat cried out, grabbing Ladybug and jumping out the way before they were bulldozed. Destructer swiveled and charged again.

“This is ridiculous,” Ladybug growled, nose diving to the side. She rose to her feet and raised the bullhorn to her mouth. 

"Enough!" she screamed. 

The noise that came from the horn was deafening, enhanced by the miraculous magic to a high, screeching, eardrum shattering point. He cried out and covered his ears tightly. The noise was like a thousand nails scratching down a chalkboard, so piercing it made eyes water. He could barely hear Destrucer wail from under his palms and pinned ears. Ladybug shut off the bullhorn in seconds, stopping the terrible noise. 

Caught off guard by the power of the bullhorn, Ladybug didn’t notice the Akuma glare evilly at her and charge. He was so fast Chat didn’t even have time to warn Ladybug. He shot forward, pushing her aside, but he wasn’t fast enough to dodge the attack himself. Destructer crashed into him like a two ton steel battering ram. Chat grunted at the impact, unable to catch himself as he flew through the air. Then he heard the impact of his body hitting a street light pole so hard his body almost bent in half. He screamed in pain, his body jerking when the momentum stretched him further. Then gravity came forth, pulling him from the pole. He fell like a bag of rocks, landing facedown on the sidewalk with a hard thump. 

“NO!” 

He heard Ladybug’s cry through muffled, cotton filled ears. His entire body screamed in agony. He felt Plagg’s celestial magic coursing through him, but didn’t feel anything healing. He tried to get up and almost panicked when he realized he couldn’t move. His breaths came out in stuttered pants, each cough and wheeze sending sharp stabs of pain to his brain and throughout his body. His adrenaline was on overdrive, as was his fear. He had taken tons of damage before, but not like this. He prayed that the miraculous bugs could cure his injury. 

“Chat Noir!” Ladybug was much closer now, screaming in his ear. She tried to push him to his back, but even the light shove she did felt like his muscles were going to burn up and his bones were going to shatter. He couldn’t even scream, instead letting out a pain-filled wet garble, begging her to stop moving him. Ladybug’s hands disappeared in seconds. 

“What happened?! What’s wrong!” 

Chat knew there was no time for her to panic. Even if the possibility of being permanently paralyzed was sitting in the back of his mind, they had to focus on the battle at hand.

“What do I do?!” Ladybug's tearful exclamation tugged at his heart.

“The...akuma....” he wheezed out painfully. The only way they could fix this was to defeat the akuma and call for the miraculous cure. 

And if that didn’t cure him… well, at least he wouldn’t have to model anymore. 

He heard Ladybug run back into battle, her footsteps like thunder on the pavement. He managed to lift his head slowly, watching with bleary eyes as Ladybug _pounded_ on the akuma so ferociously it was almost criminal. Gone was Ladybug’s professional demeanor, replaced by determination and violent rage. She used the bullhorn to her advantage, creating short bursts of screeching noise to distract Destructer enough for her to get some hits in. It hurt his ears, but everything hurt so it was just a grain in the quicksand he was slowly drowning in. After a gratifying punch straight to Destructer’s face, the sound of his nose breaking making him smile a bit, she yanked the pin of the Akuma’s chest and crushed it under her heels. 

“No more evil doing for you little Akuma!” she rushed out, purifying the escaping dark purple butterfly. 

“Miraculous Ladybug!” she cried out quickly, throwing the bullhorn to the sky and watching the miraculous bugs do their magic. 

Chat felt the rush of Ladybug’s magic run through him. He almost cried when the heavy pain finally lifted, leaving him weary and tender, but overall alright. He tried to push himself up again and winced when his muscles spasmed. His back voiced its complaints very loudly about his movements. Chat breathed heavily through his nose, working through the pain until it diminished into a dull ache. The miraculous cure healed his injury, it still left a little damage. He would probably feel this ache for days. 

Ladybug landed next to him again in a flurry, dropping to her knees. Her hands hovered worriedly over his body, moving around as if unsure where she could touch. 

“Did it work?” she asked desperately. 

Chat nodded. 

“The cure got most of it,” he gasped out. He tried not to look at Ladybug, knowing her lips would be curved into a serious frown at his explanation. 

“Can you move?” she asked quietly, her voice laced with terror and concern.

Chat nodded slowly and tried to get up again. He moved his arms under him, his muscles screaming in protest. But he was able to move and slowly, he lifted himself onto all fours. His arms quivered, but he was stable enough to get up.

He felt Ladybug’s arm go under his shoulder and around his waist, then heave him the rest of the way up. He didn’t cry out, but couldn’t stop the hiss that escaped from between his teeth. 

“Sorry!” Ladybug apologized with a wince. 

“It’s ok, bug,” Chat sighed. She walked him away from the growing crowd and into an alley, where she continued walking slowly without letting him go.

“Ladybug?” he asked, wondering what she was doing. 

“We need to get you home,” she said firmly, tightening her grip around him. She looked down at her yoyo, then shook her head dismissing the thought. He was glad. He wasn’t sure he would be able to handle flying right now.

Then his brain understood what she just said. 

“I can get home by myself,” Chat said, jerking away from her. Ladybug held onto him tight, her grip unbreakable. 

“No, you can’t. I can get you home, just tell me where you live,” Ladybug demanded. 

“We can’t do that LB!” Chat cried out, trying to jerk away from her again. 

“Yes, _we_ can. I have to make sure you get home ok!” 

Chat wasn’t able to see Ladybug’s sorrow and dread, only hear it in her voice, the words cracking under the pressure. She wasn’t thinking straight, her actions driven by her volatile emotions. So he had to be the level headed one now. For both of them. 

“We can’t!” he exclaimed with more strength. “The rules!”

“Forget the rules!” she argued back, holding him closer to her. Chat was shocked by her statement. Forget the rules? Forget the rules?! Chat managed to get his arm up and pushed Ladybug aside, ignoring her sputtering complaints. 

“We can’t!” he shouted and she stopped, frozen across from him. Chat put a hand to the alley wall, holding himself up. He breathed and straightened himself. The pain was lessening as time passed. He determined he could get home quickly, as long as he stuck to the alleys. 

Chat turned to Ladybug, more serious than he had ever been before. He would not let Ladybug reveal their identities because he was too slow to dodge that attack. He would not have it be another mistake in their relationship. And he _absolutely_ would not create another reason to keep the distance between them. Not because of him. Never again because of him. 

“We can’t Ladybug. And you know that. More than anyone,” Chat said firmly. He ignored the way Ladybug’s panic started to crumble, leaving despair in its place. Her blue eyes began to fill with tears. 

“I’ll be fine bugaboo. I’ve taken worse hits,” he grinned, trying to lighten the mood. It was probably bad that Ladybug didn’t call him out on his lie. “I promise to let you know the second I get home.”

Her face twisted and her mouth opened, ready to argue. But then her tears finally escaped and she closed her mouth with an audible click. She looked agonized and he hated it. Hated making her cry again. 

If they ever lifted the veil over their identities, it would be on her terms as the guardian. Not because of Hawkmoth’s crazy overpowered akuma. He took out his baton and rolled his shoulders. He almost chuckled when he realized he lost another opportunity to talk to her about that day. Missed his chance with Marinette and with Ladybug.

He really was one unlucky cat. 

He moved to step out of the alleyway, readying himself to run home.

“Chaton! Wait, please!" Ladybug cried, reaching out to him. He didn’t turn away, reaching out to her as well tuck her outstretched hand in his own, giving her hand a firm squeeze. 

“I promise,” he grinned, his usual familiar Chat Noir grin. But before she could argue more, he pulled away and ran. 

It took him much longer than usual to make it home, sticking close to the shadows to avoid being spotted and shadowed. He was lucky that no one was in the gardens to see him crawl into the mansion’s secret tunnel. Once inside his home, he used all of his black cat skills to sneak his way to his room. He had never been so happy to see his door. Slipping silently inside, he closed and locked the door, then slipped to the floor, too tired to keep his body upright. He took out his baton and sent a message to Ladybug, followed by a series of goofy cat emojis he knew always made her smile, before calling for his transformation. 

“Plagg, claws in,” he muttered. Plagg’s black magic rolled through him and took away the barrier holding the majority of the pain back. He winced when his back spasmed, making his arms tremble slightly. How was he going to explain this to his father?

“Adrien!” 

Adrien looked up, rolling his shoulders to get his body moving. Plagg hovered worriedly over him. Adrien almost cheered, taking note that for once he wasn't demanding cheese. 

“You saved me, didn't you?" Adrien asked, curious about what exactly Plagg did to help him when he was injured. Plagg dipped his head up and down, his big green eyes glistening. 

"You're the best Kwami a chosen could ever have,” Adrien exhaled gratefully and the small god cursed at him viciously. 

“You dumb kitten!” Plagg yelled, proceeding to rant in a language Adrien had never heard. 

Not wanting his Kwami to be too angry with him, Adrien reached out and scooped his little best friend in his palm. He pulled the god close to him and smiled when Plagg started to purr loudly, the noise a little rougher than usual. 

He owed Plagg everything. It was going to be pretty hard to explain thousands of dollars worth of camembert to Natalie, but it'll be well worth it. 

"Thank you, Plagg."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoy putting Adrien through the wringer. It's quite possibly one of my favorite hobbies :)
> 
> Also, Plagg is the best and I love him and I would go bankrupt in order to give him all the cheese he wants. LOL
> 
> Thank you all for reading. Until next time!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I am so sorry for the delay with this chapter. I sort of lost focus on where I wanted to go and how I wanted to wrap things up, but I think I finally got it! There will be one more chapter after this, which will wrap things up between Ladybug and Chat Noir, then a small epilogue, which should be posted by (hopefully) mid next week. Thank you all for your patience and your wonderful comments! I appreciate you!!! <3
> 
> Enjoy! :D

Chat Noir armor normally protected him from bruises and injuries in the midst of battle. If he was ever hurt, and he _has_ been hurt before, the miraculous cure would heal him completely by the end of the battle. Leaving him fit as a fiddle. Adrien wasn't sure why this time, his injury didn't fully heal. Laying his stomach, a makeshift cold pack on his muscles, he looked at his Kwami, nestled onto the pillow next to his hair. 

"What happened?" he asked softly, reaching back to adjust the ice around.

Plagg grimaced guiltily. 

"I tried to fix you and it messed with Tikki's magic."

"You can heal?" Adrien whispered, awed.

"No, I can't. I didn't _heal_ you. I just stopped your nerves and bones from snapping."

He tried hard not to imagine what that looked like and winced when his brain unhelpfully went in that direction. 

"But... the cure can fix anything. I would have been fine in the end," Adrien said, furrowing his brow. Then his eyes widened a fraction, a small smile curving on his lips.

"You panicked," he said, practically grinning. 

"Yeah, yeah, I panicked. So what?" Plagg growled, the vibration rumbling in his ear. 

"Aww, you do care," Adrien teased, holding back a wince to curl Plagg into his palm. 

"Don't push your luck, kid," Plagg growled again, nipping his thumb. Adrien chuckled, rubbing his fingers lightly on Plagg's soft fur. He was the literal persona of bad luck, but at the moment he felt like the luckiest guy in the whole world to have a best friend like Plagg. 

A soft two knock sound came from his front door and he groaned. He knew he couldn't avoid Natalie any longer. He had already pushed his already limited luck by claiming he had a stomach ache and retreated to his room with a bowl of soup for dinner. He got up on all fours, Plagg hovering worriedly around his head. 

"Adrien?" Natalie called from his door. 

He worked a little faster to change position, falling into a nonchalant sprawl over his covers. The position didn't do much to help the ache, but it was dim enough that he could ignore it. 

"Come in."

Natalie opened his door, peeking only her head in.

"How are you feeling?" she asked. 

Adrien shrugged a little. "The soup helped. Was...was father upset?"

Natalie didn't answer. Adrien nodded slowly, squashing down the disappointment that burned like acid in his throat. He glanced over at Natalie again, who was giving him a worried once over. He would have laughed at the sight of his father's _assistant_ caring more than his own father. Well, at least someone cared. 

"Is he still leaving tomorrow?" he asked, trying to change the topic.

"Yes. He should be gone until Tuesday."

"Good. I'm going out with my friends tomorrow."

Natalie raised a perfectly manicured brow.

"It's just a stomach ache Natalie. I'll be fine by tomorrow," Adrien said quickly, sending her a reassuring smile. 

Natalie didn't respond. Instead, she stepped into his room fully and walked to place something on his nightstand. Adrien saw it was a sandwich, bursting with turkey, lettuce, tomatoes, mayo, and all sorts of goodies. His breath hitched a little at the blatant disregard for his diet. 

"Make sure you eat before you take your medicine," Natalie said softly, her normally sharp blue eyes softening a little. Adrien nodded absently, surprise stealing his words. Then Natalie's professional mask took over, her posture ramrod straight. 

"Goodnight, Adrien," Natalie said before leaving, her heels clicking on the tile floor.

"Goodnight!" he called out quickly, the words bouncing on his closed door. Silence reigned, the soft beeps of his computer the only noise until Plagg floated back to his side. 

"That can't have been her. I think it was a senti monster," Plagg snorted, taking a large bite of his cheese. 

"Maybe," Adrien laughed, reaching over to unwrap his sandwich and take a large bite. He wasn't sure what prompted Natalie to break his father's rule, but he would appreciate every single bite. He finished his meal quickly, wiping his fingers on the towel nearby and letting out a loud yawn. He was ready to sleep for days.

Adrien changed into his pajamas, deciding to go shirtless when he struggled to put his pants on. Flicking the light off, he popped a couple of painkillers and snuggled under his duvet, trying his best to ignore the throb of his abused muscles. 

"Plagg?"

"Yeah, kid?"

Adrien was silent a moment, before scooping his Kwami in his hands and placing him gently on his chest. 

"Thank you."

Plagg's body rumbled as he purred. Adrien fell asleep to the constant soothing vibration over his heart.

-

Adrien was tempted to ask Plagg to transform in order to talk to Ladybug, but he figured he was probably pushing it. He had a feeling Plagg wouldn't want him to unnecessarily transform for a while. But he was worried. He knew Ladybug would have received his message. However, the image of her tears kept yanking at his heartstrings, making him worry nonstop. 

He really hoped she wasn’t blaming herself for his stupidity. When he replayed the battle, he realized she probably could have dodged Destructor's tackle.  Chat was the fastest of the duo, but Ladybug was nimble and light on her feet. She could have easily yoyoed away, out of sight. He felt a bit silly that he acted before thinking, yet he had been driven by the need to protect Ladybug. To make sure she wasn't hurt. He didn’t regret trying to save her, even if he felt like he was run over by a train, but he knew he would have to be more careful in the future. For Ladybug's and Plagg's sake. 

Then again, had it not been for his injury, he would not have seen how much Ladybug still _cared_. He felt his cheek muscles strain by the force of his grin. After all this time, she still cared. Not in the professional 'you're my partner' way. No, the way she beat the ever living crap out of the Akuma practically screamed it was way more than that. His confidence soared to the clouds. If Ladybug still cared that much about them, it meant there was still a chance to fix their relationship. To get his best friend back. 

She had tried to tell him something too. Maybe...maybe she wanted to talk to him too. The idea bolstered him, his mind running with different plans on how to meet up again. He could transform and search Paris or stakeout her patrol route to catch her mid-swing. Or he could try subtly asking Marinette. His almost girlfriend had connections with Ladybug. He was sure that Marinette would help him if he explained that his 'friend' Chat Noir needed to speak to Ladybug urgently. 

Whatever plan he decided on, he felt confident, more than confident, that once they met up, everything would be alright.

His phone pinged, notifying him someone was talking in the group chat. With a groan he rolled over, the morning sunlight warming his skin. His movement disrupted Plagg's sleep, the Kwami sending him a ruthless glare before floating slowly away towards his own bed. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his phone, hanging it over his face. There were two messages, both from Alya.

**Alya: Are we still on?**

**Alya: guys?**

The group had decided to go rollerblading, another teenage activity he couldn't wait to try out, the day after Marinette's shoot to celebrate. He wondered if his balance would be ok with his back still hurting, but getting a full night's rest really helped make the pain more manageable. He was sure after a few painkillers and taking it easy, he would be alright. 

Besides, no amount of pain would stop him from skating hand in hand with Marinette. 

He opened the keyboard to type a quick message when his phone pinged again and he saw Marinette's name flash on his screen. He blinked. Marinette was always the slowest to respond to their group messages. He knew it was because she was always busy doing something or another. He glanced at her reply and frowned. 

**Marinette: I’m not in the mood. Reschedule?**

Huh?

**Alya: What?! Come one, you know today is the only time we have together!**

**Nino: Is everything alright Mari?**

**Marinette: Yeah, everything’s fine. Just tired.**

Adrien's frown deepened. When he left her at home, she had seemed fine. She even kissed him, the area where her lips touched him still tingling. What could have happened between then and now? He remembered he didn't reply to her late night message, having been deep in the throes of a great dream. She couldn't be upset by that, could she?

_ Adrien: The best medicine for a tired soul is skating. So I've heard.  _

**Nino: It's like legally required**

_ Adrien: Besides, who knows when’s the next time father will let me out. _

**Alya: Yea! This is a once in a lifetime chance!**

**Nino: So says the guy who's been on a rebellious streak for like a year now**

_Adrien: Better late than never!_

Adrien didn't want to push, but he knew a day out would help raise her spirits. The selfish part of him was also too impatient to wait till Monday to see her again. He watched the dots that symbolized Marinette was typing going in and out. His fingers padded on his phone, ready to send another encouraging message when his phone pinged. 

**Marinette: Ugh, alright alright**

Adrien shot out of his bed, running to his closet to pick out his outfit. He put his "Makeup with Ladybug" plans on pause, throwing all of his focus on his new "Make Marinette Feel Better or Die Trying" plan. He could offer to get her more fabric, but using his money as a bandaid always made him feel weird. Should he bring the present he crafted for her? He wanted to give it to her when they made things official, the little trinket a symbol of all of his feelings for her. He pursed his lips, then decided not to bring it. That little gift could wait. He could fall on his ass while skating once or twice. His back would hate him for a couple of days, but the pain would be worth it to see her laugh. 

"Romeo, you're gonna be late!"

Adrien snapped out of his thoughts. Plagg had his phone in his hands and the time told him he had ten minutes to make it to the rink. He cursed. Somehow he always lost track of time when Marinette was in his head. He grabbed whatever comfy clothes he could see, a soft white cotton T-shirt and thick dark jeans, and rushed to get ready. He combed his hair, brushed his teeth, put on his boots, and ran out the door, snatching his wallet, keys, and Plagg's cheese on the way out. 

He tried not to run, not wanting to exert himself before the day even started. He knew he should have just asked Gorilla to give him a ride, but he had been enjoying his freedom so much he didn't even think about it. About fifteen minutes later, he finally made it, panting only slightly. 

"Hey guys!" he greeted, happy to see his friends. Alya and Nino were talking to one another, also dressed casually in flannel and jeans. Marinette stood a little to the side, head bowed slightly. She was wearing a white blouse that hugged her curves and dark tight-fitting jeans. They matched and that shouldn't have made him as giddy as it did. She had her hair up in a high ponytail, a change from her usual pigtails and he sighed happily at how beautiful she looked. 

She did look tired, but as her head raised to face him, her eyes sparkled a little, and the cloud around her dissipated just a bit. 

"Hi, Mari," Adrien grinned, stepping up to her.

"Hey," she smiled. Squashing down his nerves, he opened his arms to gather her into a comforting hug. He would have cooed if they were alone when she wrapped her arms around his waist, squeezing him tight. She was so soft and warm, he could hold her for hours if she let him. 

"Get a room!" Alya called out. 

Adrien stuck out his tongue childishly, but let go. 

“Bro!” Nino greeted merrily. 

"Bro!!" Adrien embraced his best friend, biting his lip to stop from moaning when Nino squeezed a little too tight.

“Ready to skate?” Alya asked with a wide smile, their fists bumping. 

He wasn’t, but he smiled anyway. "Heck yea!"

"I can't believe you've never been to a rink!" Nino cried out, almost offended. "You're gonna have a great time man."

"It's similar to ice skating, right?" he asked as they entered the rink. He held the front door open for Marinette to enter first and they walked down a small hallway to the front booth. 

"Yea, but a little different. You'll see," Nino grinned mischievously. They paid for their shoes, Adrien paying for Marinette's of course, much to her chagrin, and he followed the trio towards another set of heavy looking doors. Adrien could hear the music from indoors and he felt the sparks of excitement give life to his blood. He forgot all about his back as Nino opened the doors. 

What greeted them was the loud bass of pop music from the overhead speakers, happy laughter from friends and family, and startled cries from those that met their maker on the hardwood floor. His eyes could barely take everything in. The colorful lights, the skaters as they worked in circles, the smells of the food from the cafe nearby. It was everything he had envisioned and more. 

"Whoa," he said under his breath, feeling like a kid at Christmas.

"It's that good?" Marinette teased, leading the group towards an open spot next to a small half door. 

Adrien blushed a little. "Uh-it's cool."

Marinette giggled and Adrien smiled. Plan "Make Marinette Feel Better or Die Trying" was so far a success. 

"You got rollerblades. You're pretty confident for your first time going skating," Marinette giggled, sitting down on the wood bench and taking off her shoes. 

"My boy doesn't need girly skates," Nino quipped, sitting down and quickly putting on his own rollerblades. 

"Excuse you," Alya huffed, putting on her own roller skates. Nino pulled at her laces teasingly, giving her a look that screamed 'skates? really?' Alya retaliated by pinching his arm. Hard. 

"Ow!"

Adrien laughed along with Marinette, sitting down next to her. "If it's similar to ice skating, I'll be fine."

The other couple finished putting on their skates by the time he unlaced his last boot. He grabbed his first skate, trying to figure out how to unlace the thing while listening to Marinette talk to Alya for a moment. 

"See ya!" Alya giggled, dragging Nino towards the rink and leaving Adrien and Marinette alone. 

"I think she's more excited than all of us combined," Marinette chuckled. 

Adrien hummed in agreement and cheered when he finally unlaced the skate. He bent down quickly to put it on, then hissed under his breath when his back protested. 

“You okay?” Marinette asked. He cursed mentally. The last person he wanted to know about his injury was Marinette. 

“Yea, just worked out a little too hard yesterday,” he lied. A bad lie considering the look Marinette sent him. 

“You? Working out?”

“I work out sometimes!” 

Except he didn't. Not unless scaling concrete walls or running over shingles counted. Then again, he was usually running for his life when donned in black leather so did it really count as working out?

“Uh-huh,” Marinette said, not believing a word he was saying, but choosing not to pursue the line of questioning. Quiet enveloped them as they finished putting on their skates. Once his skates were snug on his feet, he turned to see if Marinette was ready and his smile dimmed. 

The cloud of melancholy was back. Wrapped around her so tight he could almost see the wet sheen on her skin. Her bright blue eyes were muted, pink lips pressed into a firm fine line. Even her hair lacked its usual luster, hanging limply in its single tail. She looked tired. Physically and mentally. As if she hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long while. As if she held a heavy weight on her shoulders that she didn't know how to remove. 

Adrien pondered his next move for a moment. He had two options; drag her to the rink to help her forget her troubles or confront her and do his best to help fix them. 

Or...

He bit his lip worriedly. He had planned on confessing after they finished skating and asking if she would do him the honor of being his girlfriend. But maybe this was his chance. They were alone and, as selfish as the thought was, he didn't want to wait any longer. He also felt fairly certain that that was a sure-fire way to make Marin feel better. They had danced around each other for long enough. 

He felt his palms start to clam up as he thought of how to phrase his confession. 

_ Hey Marinette! I just want you to know you’re the coolest girl ever and I love you! _

He shook his head. That was lame. 

_ Marinette, this might be out of the blue, but I want you to know that I think you’re amazing and hope that you’ll give me a chance? _

Ugh, too timid. What to say, what to say…

“I didn’t get the chance to try your advice.”

Marinette’s voice pulled him from his inner thoughts. He turned to look at her, confused. 

“My advice?” he asked gently. 

“About my friend.”

Oh. That friend. 

“What happened?” he asked tentatively. 

“He got hurt. I tried to help him, but he refused and walked away before I got the chance. It was the right thing to do I suppose, but I still feel shitty. About everything.”

He felt that there was more to the story that she wasn't telling him. He didn't want to pry, but he was determined to help her no matter what it took. 

“Is he in the hospital?” Adrien asked, worried for Marinette’s friend.

“I don’t think so. He let me know he got home okay, but...I haven't heard from him since,” Marinette’s crestfallen expression deepened. 

He watched as she curled into herself, her eyes hidden by her bangs. Her shoulders were hunched in a way that made his heart thump painfully.  He wanted to comfort her, tell her that she wasn’t in the wrong, praise her as the amazing person she is, and not waste any more time on the jerk who was hurting her. But he knew that wouldn't help. Whoever this person was, he meant a lot to her. Adrien controlled the small lick of jealousy that touched him and thought about what to say tactfully, before giving up. 

“Why don't you go find him then?" he asked, feeling a bit frustrated. 

Marinette’s head whipped up, staring wide-eyed into Adrien’s own light green orbs. 

“If it’s bothering you this much, just go see him. I know you’ll worry yourself to the wick if you don’t see him face to face to make sure he’s ok.”

“He doesn’t want to see me,” she said simply.

“Did he say that?” Adrien asked with a raised brow. 

Marinette didn’t respond, only gaped openly at him.

“Mari, I know you and how you like to overthink things. If he didn’t want to see you, he would have said it no?” Adrien said softly, not wanting his advice to come off like a reprimand, but keeping firm. When Marinette didn’t respond, he continued.

“I think you might be making assumptions without confirming from the source himself. You won’t know he doesn’t want to see you unless he says it himself. Talk to him directly, see how he feels. Then you can apologize for what happened and from there, you both can decide whether you want to continue staying friends,” Adrien finished eloquently. It was pretty good advice, even if Marinette just continued to stare at him with her jaw dropped. 

“We can’t just  _ see _ each other, it’s not that easy,” she finally blurted out, shaking her head vigorously, her hair whipping the air with the force of her movement. 

“Sure it is,” Adrien shrugged. “If you care a lot for someone, wouldn’t you do anything to be with them?” 

He felt his cheeks heat up as he thought about his own desire to come to the skating rink, even though his back was aching all over. It was to see her, the young designer who captivated his mind and captured his heart. Yes, he enjoyed spending time with his friends, but really he enjoyed spending the most time with her. His hopefully future girlfriend and current love of his life. 

He watched as she looked down again at the floor, although this time her melancholy was pushed aside. She looked puzzled and on the brink of a revelation. It was a curious expression, her lips pursed, brows furrowed and small nose scrunched. It was also really cute. Adrien coughed a little to hide the chuckle that escaped.

He was so curious about this friend that captured Marinette’s heart. She had repeatedly said he was her friend, but was there something more? Something he was missing? 

“Do I know this guy? I can talk to him if you’d like,” Adrien offered. He would if it would help get rid of that sad, defeated look. 

“I don’t think you do,” she replied cautiously. “But he reminds me of you in some ways.”

Adrien scoffed good-naturedly, “Excuse you, no one is as awesome as me.”

Marinette giggled, some light coming back to her eyes. 

“He must be pretty special to catch your attention so much,” he said sourly. He  groaned internally. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Now he sounded like a jealous jerk. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Marinette interrupted him. 

“Are you jealous Adrien?” Marinette teased, eyebrow raised. 

“N-No! I’m not jealous!” he stammered, feeling his cheeks grow warmer. Damn his normal, anxious reactions!

Marinette leaned forward into his space and smirked playfully at him.

“Are you lying?” she asked, repeating the same line he had said to her many moons ago. At the time she had denied that she liked him and had said that she only liked his modeling. He was tempted to go down that route too, to escape this embarrassing situation. But he didn’t take the bait. He grit his teeth and straightened his back, looking down at Marinette with reddened cheeks and determined eyes. 

“Yes.” he tried to say it firmly, but it came out more like a whisper. “I am jealous.”

It caught her by surprise. The smirk disappeared and all teasing was gone. She looked shocked. And delightfully excited.

“Why?” she said quietly, wide blue eyes sucking him in. He opened his mouth to respond and chose action instead. Quickly, before his brain caught up, he wrapped an arm around her slim waist and leaned in to touch her lips with his. 

It was not at all what he thought his first kiss would be like. He expected fireworks, birds singing, the bugles of the angels blaring in the air. It was almost a little anticlimactic. His lips were chapped from the dry air of the rink and her lips didn’t move, shocked by his bold action. For a split second, he wondered if he was in the wrong. Had messed up by acting too quickly. He leaned back a bit to move away and start begging for forgiveness when her strong arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him to her. 

_ Oh wow... _

He felt her move on him and _oh,_ this was a _kiss_. It was magical and it was liberating, a soft sound escaping his throat when she deepened their kiss. He tried his best to mimic her movements, gently caressing her lips in return, cupping her face in his hand. He hoped he was able to show her the depths of his feelings, how far she had burrowed into his life and into his heart.  His fingers trembled a little when he realized from this point on, he could feel her softness and bathe in her warmth anytime he wanted. He was ecstatic, happy beyond words, to finally be with someone that liked him back, that wanted him for him. 

He was hers, for as long as she wanted him. And she was his, until the end of time. 

The arm around her waist tightened, pulling her closer, feeling lost under the weight of his emotions. She gasped against him and through instinct he deepened the kiss, his tongue touching hers tentatively. She met him in the middle and they engaged in a battle that left him steaming. Surrounded by people in a loud skating rink, his back killing him and his mind fuzzy, he had his first kiss and he wouldn’t have had it any other way. 

The sound of someone’s throat clearing startled him and he pulled away, head whipping in that direction. Alya and Nino had finished skating. They stood in front of them with winning smiles on each face. He braced himself for the ribbing that he knew was about to commence. 

“Dude…” Nino started and Adrien was half-way through forming a scowl when Nino gushed out, “I’m so happy.”

Adrien blinked and  Alya couldn’t contain herself anymore. She squealed so loud the patrons around them turned to see what was going on. 

“It finally happened! YES!!” she screamed, grabbing Marinette to pull her into a giddy hug. Marinette laughed, arms tucked at her side as Alya squished her with her joy. 

He felt Nino clap a hand on his shoulder. 

“Congrats man! This is gonna be awesome!” Nino said brightly, gathering him in a bro hug. 

Adrien laughed breathlessly. He knew his friend would approve, but seeing their joy first hand sent a small wave of relief through him. His eyes connected with Marinette’s, who was still wrapped in Alya’s embrace, and he gave her his best roguish Chat-like grin. Marinette, who was more formidable than people thought, rolled her eyes at him. 

He was a goner _for sure._

Regrettably, his friends refused to give them any more alone time to continue making out like reckless teenagers. Adrien grumbled petulantly until Marinette whispered promises in his ear that had him bright red and running towards the rink before Nino, or worse Alya, could notice. It took him a bit to get used to the thicker wheels, but he got the hang of it quickly. Marinette and he glided over the wood for a while, exchanging soft smiles, until she challenged him to a race. Adrien chuckled darkly. 

Girlfriend or no, she was going down. 

They raced over the slick wood,  their friends cheering them on from the sidelines, wind whistling in their ears.  Smiling widely, he pushed his body to go faster, playful taunts exchanged between the two. He saw the finish line and pushed himself harder, ready to hold his victory over her for _days._

"Marinette!" 

Adrien gasped at Alya's loud cry. He turned and saw Marinette had slipped, her arms flailing in the air. Without thinking, he rushed sideways and grabbed Marinette's arm before she could fall face-first on the wood, and regretted the second they both when crashing onto the hard floor. 

Regretted falling, not catching Marinette. The least he could do was pillow her fall with his body. 

Adrien clenched his eyes tight when his back spasmed, biting his lip hard to hold back a howl of pain.

"Oh my God, oh my God! Adrien! Are you okay?!" Marinette panicked over him, scrambling to get off his body. 

Adrien breathed, watery eyes staring up at Marinette ruefully. He was happy 90% of his plan, along with an almost smooth confession, was completed earlier. That way, he didn't feel guilty as he grinned and said,

"I think I'm done skating for the day."

-

“Are you sure you don’t want to go straight home?” Marinette asked for the tenth time. 

“I’m sure. It’s not painful anymore and besides, no amount of pain is worth not spending one more second with you,” Adrien flirted shamelessly. 

Marinette blushed, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

“Smooth talker,” she teased, before falling in stride beside him. They left Nino and Alya to continue their day at the rink and Adrien was grateful for the time alone. Together, they walked down the street towards her home. Adrien was glad that the pain in his back did subside, but throughout their walk, he was distracted by his thoughts. There was just so  _ much _ to do now. He could finally take her on a date, romance and woo her, hold her hand, kiss her. So much to do, so little time. 

As he was formulating a schedule for a date day, he felt a touch on his hand. It startled him and he looked down to see Marinette’s pinky finger wrapped around his own. He blushed and noticed she was blushing too. He realized that he was so deep in his musings he was ignoring her. 

That wouldn’t do at all. 

He gathered his courage and pulled her hand into his, intertwining their fingers. His heart raced, feeling her soft calloused palm on his. Her hand was so small, designed to create and heal. But strong, so strong as she gripped his tight. Twin dopey smiles graced their lips. 

“We should do is go on a real date,” Adrien said, excited.

“Where to?” Marinette asked.

“Anywhere you want!”

Marinette laughed. “Anywhere huh? How about at the Le Grand Paris?”

Adrien grimaced, already dreading Chloe’s inevitable rage once she found out they were dating.

“Ok, maybe not anywhere.”

They laughed and chatted for a bit until they finally made it to her front door.

“Princess, you have arrived,” he said seriously. 

“That I have, sir knight,” she giggled. She swung their joined hands between them, bringing him closer to her.

“Thank you for today. I had a great time,” she said softly, staring up at him. He melted under her eyes and touch, his grin becoming even sillier. 

“I’m glad Mari. Our next date will be even better!” he cheered. 

She laughed, sneaking in a sweet kiss that made him swoon. 

“How about first we figure out when you’re free next,” Marinette said fondly. 

“For you Mari, I’ll make all the time in the world,” he replied adoringly.

Her flush was pretty pink. 

“Text me?” she asked and Adrien nodded, swooping in for another kiss. 

They parted, Adrien, glancing longingly at her from the sidewalk. He knew he needed to get home soon, but it was hard to part from her. His Marinette. 

“I hope you can see your friend soon,” he said encouragingly. He had meant what he said in the rink and honestly hoped she made up with her friend soon. 

Marinette smiled, nodding her head resolutely, “I will.” 

She leaned down from her top step and gave him another, soft sweet kiss. He made it home feeling so light he was flying through the clouds. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the end feels kind of rushed. I'm not entirely happy with it, but I didn't want to wait any longer to post it. I hope you all liked the confession and how sickenly adorable our dynamic duo are. Let me know your thoughts!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaaaaaack. With the hardest chapter in this entire gosh darn story. It took me FOREVER, but I think I was able to get the dynamic exactly where I wanted it. I hope you all enjoy this final chapter!
> 
> :D

Adrien woke up from his nap to the sounds of chaos and the feeling of bitter cold on his skin. He rose up sharply, exchanging a weary look with Plagg. Hawkmoth had left Paris alone for an entire week, a new record. He had hoped for an Akuma to appear sooner so he could find Ladybug, but the reprieve from fighting was still nice. 

“It was good while it lasted,” Adrien sighed as he called for his transformation. He unlocked and jumped out of his window, landing softly on a pile of white powder. A blizzard had hit Paris, enveloping the city in mountains of snow. 

_ A blizzard during the beginnings of summer! This is  _ snow _ laughing matter!  _

His teeth chattered as he chuckled at his own pun, his breath was visible in the air. He flew quickly towards the center of the storm, using the increasing level of snow accumulation as his guide. It was still night, but not late enough to stop his fellow Parisians from enjoying the change in scenery. He leaped over a group of kids in an impromptu, vicious snowball fight and grinned when he heard wild curses and screams coming from more than a few open windows. 

Not everyone liked winter. 

When he finally arrived, landing softly on the roof of an apartment complex, he took a second to survey the area. It was strange that there were no battle cries or demands for their miraculous jewels. Still, his instincts told him he was in the right spot. He searched the plaza carefully and spotted a shot of red and black, almost hidden, behind a mound of pristine white snow. She wasn’t moving except for the small movements of one slim shoulder. Was she talking to someone?

Jumping down from the building, he was thankful his landing was silenced by the snow. Crawling closer, he peeked over the mound and saw it was Ladybug he found and she was sitting next to the Akuma. 

Chat put his hand quickly on his baton, but a rapid perusal informed him that there was no danger. The Akuma was tall, abnormally tall, with long flowing white hair and a baby blue ankle-length dress. She looked intimidating. She was also the saddest looking thing he had ever seen.

And that was saying something. 

“Are you here to fight me?” the Akuma asked wearily, noticing him, but not even bothering to lift her head from her hands. 

Ladybug, who hadn’t noticed him, snapped her blue eyes to him and pinned him on the spot. She shook her head minutely, enough so that the Akuma wouldn’t notice, but he could still hear her screaming ‘don’t engage!’. 

“I try to make it a habit not to fight pretty ladies,” he said smoothly. He grinned when Ladybug facepalmed, but it got a chuckle from their somber companion. She lifted her head and noticed her skin was pale too, almost white in color, as were her eyes. It was interesting to see, he had never been so close to an Akuma without permanent risk of getting punched in the face. He likened her to a snow princess out of a fairy tale and it made him want to help her even more. 

“Ice Queen, I know getting your feelings out can be hard. Trust me, I  _ know, _ ” Ladybug said soothingly, fiddling with her fingers in her lap. “But if you don’t tell him how you really feel, then it’ll just lead to more trouble later on.”

Chat felt his tail lash nervously but kept his stance. He needed more information before he could intercede. 

“But I love him. I want him to be happy,” Ice Queen muttered, staring into her blue hands. She looked so miserable, like a sodden kitten. It made him want to give her a big, comforting hug. 

“Sacrificing your happiness won’t make him happy. All that will do is hurt both of you in the end,” Ladybug responded solemnly. 

His super hearing caught someone approaching them fast. He tensed, looking out to see who was coming. It was a man, a tall man, though not as tall as Ice Queen, covered head to toe in winter clothing. Another Akuma? Chat’s couldn’t make out if it was an enemy or a civilian. They had been caught off guard before. But the man stopped his sprint a distance away from them the moment he caught sight of Chat Noir. He cupped his hands around his mouth and Chat smiled, piecing together who had approached them. 

“Feira!” he shouted. Both women whirled, looking to the side to see who had come. Ladybug watched the civilian carefully, but Ice Queen gasped, her hands going over her mouth. 

“Christopher!” she cried out.

The civilian, Christopher, walked forward another few paces. “Feira, please stop this! I’m sorry about what I said, I didn’t mean it! Let’s talk, I know we can find a way to be happy together! Please!”

Ice Queen stared out at him, indecision warring over her white eyes. Chat hoped, prayed, that she chose to go to him. He  _ really _ didn’t want to fight her. 

“I think he means it,” Ladybug teased a little, giving Ice Queen a light push. Ice Queen turned back to Ladybug, her indecision giving away to hope.

“You think so?” she asked softly.

“I know so,” Ladybug nodded resolutely. Ice Queen smiled brightly. 

“Thank you Ladybug. I'll do it. I’ll tell him how I feel, no matter how hard it is,” the Akuma said resolutely. 

“Good,” Ladybug grinned and watched as Ice Queen ran towards her lover. Then Chat suddenly remembered that they hadn’t grabbed her object.

“Wai-” he tried to call out until he saw a white rod twirling out of the corner of his eye. The cursed object was in Ladybug’s palm. She must have grabbed it while Ice Queen was distracted.

“Ooh, you’re sneaky,” Chat sniggered. She smirked and broke the rod over her knee. The dark purple butterfly didn’t even reach his hair before Ladybug caught and purified it. 

A rush of ladybug and pink magic burst through, erasing all evidence of snow and ice and transforming the young woman back to normal. 

“Wow, that was probably the easiest Akuma we ever had to face,” Chat said, scratching his head. He was glad for it honestly. 

“Hawkmoth’s losing his touch,” Ladybug smiled. They watched as Feira approached her boyfriend cautiously. His hearing caught small murmurs, too low for him to catch the words, but he didn’t miss the way they fell into a tender embrace. His heart melted at how sweet it was. 

“Awwww,” Ladybug cooed from his side. 

“That was really smart Ladybug. I don’t think we’ve ever talked down an Akuma without fighting it first,” Chat complimented, putting his hands behind his head. 

Ladybug shrugged. 

“She wasn’t really doing much when I got here. Just sitting in the middle of snow and ice, looking like her entire world was collapsing. I know how that feels,” she laughed softly. 

Chat didn’t miss the sad undertones of her chuckle. 

“Still, great work,” Chat smiled. 

With plenty of time left in his transformation, Chat realized this was the perfect opportunity for him to confront Ladybug. He gathered his courage to ask her to meet at their spot. However, he was too slow. Ladybug turned to face him, arms crossed tight over her chest. 

“I need to follow my own advice already,” Ladybug huffed to herself, before taking a deep breath and locking her eyes with his. “Can you meet me at our spot? The Notre Dame? Please?” she added quickly, as if worried she sounded too pushy. 

Chat, shocked by the turn of events, didn’t respond. All this time, he thought he needed to poke and prod to get Ladybug to talk to him. It couldn’t be this easy, could it?

“I want to talk. If...if that’s okay?” 

Crap, he needed to answer her!

“Yes!” Chat shouted, then cursed internally. That was too enthusiastic. He cleared his throat, lowering his tone significantly. “I mean, yeah sure. Together?”

“I have to stop somewhere else first. Fifteen minutes?” she suggested. 

“No problem. I’ll be there,” Chat nodded. It was past his curfew, but he didn’t care. He would sit there all night waiting for her. Not even the world ending around him would chase him away. 

He watched her swing away and tried his best to control the tempo of his heart, his blood singing with anticipation and hope. 

-

Chat landed softly on the rooftop of Paris's famous church after passing by his home to make sure no one stopped to check up on him. Not that they would, but it was better to be safe. Its stone walls and wooden arches were quiet, the bells hanging lifelessly within the room. But even at night, the church had a beauty all of its own. He stroked the head of a gargoyle, looking out onto the city.

They had agreed to make this their spot for a couple of reasons. The cracks and crevices within the old buildings provided enough cover so they could talk privately without worrying about being seen or overheard. But really, it was because it was a beautiful, timeless piece of art. Both of them admired its structural components and ethereal beauty as well as the feeling of complete solitude within the quiet shadows. 

Crawling under an arch and heading towards a secluded area, he sat to wait for Ladybug. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, leaving the expanse of night sky clearly visible. The stars glittered in the sky, like diamonds of all shapes and sizes. He was wondering where the moon was when he heard a soft thump near him. He jumped, startled by the sound and the knowledge of who was there. 

“Ladybug,” he said softly, uncertainty making his movements jerky. Though she had said to meet him, a part of him still believed she wouldn’t come. 

“Hi, Chat,” Ladybug said timidly. Then there was silence. 

_ Awkward… _ Chat thought, biting his lip. He had to think of a way to chisel at the wall between them. He was good as destruction, that was a fact. There had to be something he could do.

“That Akuma was  _ snow _ joke,” he said airly. Punning was his go-to, even in the most inappropriate moments. A part of honestly expected her to up and leave. She did turn away, but his keen eyesight caught the slight twitch of her lips.

_ Oh ho,  _ he smirked internally. 

“Don’t give me the cold shoulder.”

“Chaton.”

“She was nice though. A Nice Queen! _ ”  _

“ _ Chat Noir,”  _ she growled, but he couldn’t even feel the heat behind it. All he could see was the smile she was trying so hard to smother. 

“Hey, chill out. I was just  _ snowing  _ off,”

Ladybug groaned, throwing her head back. He could stop there, but there was one more up his sleeve. 

“You know I glove you,” he grinned playfully, throwing her a pair of finger guns. 

And then, the most incredible thing happened. Her body began to shake visibly, her gloved hand coming to cover her mouth tightly. Event hat wasn't enough to control her laughter. Not a giggle, a snort, or even a chuckle. A full-blown, belly aching, eruption of laughter that echoed in the room around them and suffused his heart with happiness. Tears pricked the corners of his eyes. He had missed that sound, had missed  _ her _ , so much. 

“You’re the worst,” Ladybug stammered between breaths, wiping at her face.

“No, I’m the best,” he grinned, throwing his hair back dramatically. Ladybug smiled at him and he almost melted on the spot.

“That you are,” she said softly. She finished the small distance between them and sat by his side, her armor brushing his. 

“Chat, if it’s ok, I’m just gonna say everything in my head. I know it might not make sense and it might sound stupid, but it’s the only way I can get it out,” Ladybug explained tentatively. 

Chat made himself more comfortable on the blanket he nabbed from his bedroom, showing her he was ready to listen. All night if he needed to. 

Ladybug took a deep breath, making herself more comfortable over the blanket. The little light coming into the cathedral shone on her chest and legs but left her face shadowed. He was never more thankful for his night vision. Because of it, he was able to catch the flickers of emotions on her face. Anger, self-reproach, regret, sorrow were plentiful. But under that, he saw relief. And hope. 

“After Miracle Queen, I was granted the miraculous box and took on the mantle of being the new guardian. I was happy, proud, and humbled to be given such a role. But… I still couldn’t shake the guilt I felt for what happened with Chloe, our heroes, and Master Fu. I know Hawkmoth was responsible. I know Master Fu didn’t blame me. But I was so… I should have been more careful. I should have been more aware. I wasn’t and it cost us so much...”

He held himself back from arguing adamantly that nothing that happened her day was her fault. He pushed it to the back, resolving to go over it once she finished what she had to say. 

“For weeks I tried to tell myself that everything was fine. That everything would be okay. But it didn’t work. Wayzz has been so helpful, but not even he knows everything about being a guardian. Not to mention we lost the tablet, which absolutely  _ sucks.  _ So I was stuck learning this new, heavy role with no one and nothing to train me. It didn’t help that things in my civilian life weren’t going so great. I know it sounds stupid, but the boy I had a huge crush on started to go out with someone else. I was happy for him, I really was. But it just felt like everyone was moving on, finding happiness, while I was left behind, crushed under my new responsibilities. Alone and afraid to disappoint everyone.”

Chat tried his best, but he couldn’t stop himself from wiping the tears that ran down her cheeks. 

“Ladybug, why didn’t you tell me this?” Chat pleaded, hating how his voice cracked. His heart begged him to reach out and comfort her, but he needed to wait. Wait until she finished. 

Ladybug shrugged slowly. “Lots of stupid reasons. First, it was because I didn’t want to burden you with my problems. I’m the guardian and Ladybug. I should be more than capable of handling my own problems. The second was that you were so carefree at the time. It had been a long time since I’d seen you so happy. I… didn’t want to ruin that.”

Chat was floored, struck dumb by her admission. He had a feeling that she was suffering after the events of Miracle Queen, but he hadn’t realized it was so bad. And while his lady was suffering, he was parading around with Kagami and pretending everything was alright. 

His black ears sunk deep into his blonde hair. His gut clenched tight, remorse filling his stomach like liquid lead. How could he have been so shameless, so careless with his actions and words? How could he call himself her best friend and leave her to suffer on her own...

“It didn’t take long for it to twist to anger and jealousy. I kept thinking, ‘why me?’ and ‘why does he get a pass, but I don’t?’. Those terrible feelings grew and changed into something ugly and in the end, I exploded in the worst way possible,” she paused for a moment, taking a deep shuddering breath. 

“I’m not trying to excuse myself. I’m  _ not _ .  What I said was absolutely _ inexcusable _ . Even if I was stressed or overwhelmed, there was no reason to yell at you and say those nasty things. I should never have let my emotions get the better of me. You’re my partner Chat and my best f-friend,” she sniffled again, looking away from him. Her voice cracked after each word, her body trembling visibly. 

“I’m so s-sorry Chaton. I’m really, truly sorry for what I said, for p-pushing you away and making you believe I didn’t need you. It’s not true, none of it! And I know it’s been a long time, but I really hope that we-we can be friends again. I’ll do anything b-because I really miss you and-”

Chat surged forward, grabbing Ladybug by her arms and pulling her into his lap. His arms banded tight around her head and waist, tucking her deep in his embrace. Chat almost forgot how petite Ladybug was physically, but the way she shrunk into him, an attempt to make herself even smaller, made his heart thud painfully in his chest.

“Of course, Ladybug!” he said fiercely, holding her tight to him. 

He cupped the back of her head tenderly and tucked her under his chin, her soft hair tickling his nose. Her arms wrapped around him and her fingers clutched his leather armor tight until it creaked under her grip. When he heard her first sob, a tiny, mournful sound coming from under him, he let out a gloomy sigh. 

He lamented that things had gotten this far between them, but there would be no misunderstanding of where his heart and loyalty lay. 

“We’ll always be friends LB,  _ always _ . You could throw me off a cliff, or-or eat all the pastries in Paris, or even cut ties with me and never talk to me again. None of that would change anything about the way I feel. You’ll still be my best friend because you are an amazing person who’s caring and kind and so, so good.”

“I forgive you for what you said, my lady. I know you didn’t mean it. But, I need to apologize too. I’m so sorry, for not seeing how much you were suffering. For not being there for you in the way that mattered,” he felt tears well up in his eyes, thinking about all those lonely days Ladybug spent suffering under her responsibilities and suffocating under a role no one should have to suffer through alone. He vowed from this point on he would do his best to be the perfect partner for her, in every way, shape, and form. They held each other tight as they both grieved the events of the past to make way for a promising future. 

Sometime later he felt her body heave, exhaling a heavy sigh as she unwound her arms from his chest. 

“I’m sorry…” Ladybug whispered apologetically, wiping away at her lingering tears.

“No more apologies,” Chat chastised softly, wiping away any liquid he could find with a leather padded paw. “I’ve said plenty of times that it’s alright to give in every now and then. You feel better now right?” 

Ladybug hummed and nodded, a small smile lighting up her face and driving away the dark clouds around them. 

“Good. That’s good,” Chat nodded. He bit his lip, wanting to say one more thing, but unsure of how she would take it. In the spirit of transparency and honesty, he decided to go for it. 

“Ladybug, I don’t want you to feel like you can’t come to me with your problems. Please, come to me whenever you feel like there’s too much on your plate. I'm not offering because I want to pry into your life or because I don’t think you’re capable of handling yourself. I’m offering because I know what it’s like to hide away pain and I don’t want that for you. I just want you to be happy,” he finished gently, holding her hands tenderly. 

Ladybug looked up at him from her bangs, her blue eyes wide with gratitude.

“Thank you, Chat. I know, or at least I should know that, but a reminder doesn’t hurt,” she teased. Chat smiled, squeezing her hands reassuringly. 

“I’ll remind you as many times as you need,” he chuckled. 

“So, what can I do to help make things better or easier for you as your partner?” Chat asked. He had asked this question before, though using different, more demanding words, but he wanted to show Ladybug that he would be there for her no matter what. He didn’t care about the past, only the present and the future. 

Ladybug sniffed, rubbing a palm over her nose. “I...I think the first step is the hardest one.”

“Well, then let’s do it! Like ripping off a bandaid!” he said cheerfully, hopefully infusing how much he was ok with whatever was necessary to help his lady. 

Ladybug looked away warily, “You say that now…”

“You could ask me to travel to the moon and back a hundred times and I won’t care. Whatever it is, I can handle it.”

Ladybug pursed her lips for a moment. Then she sighed heavily, “If you want to, I would like to induct you as a guardian. Two is always better than one and together we could figure out how this whole thing works. Maybe even find a way to get the tablet back. If you even want to! It’s ok if you don't want to.”

Chat Noir blinked. He was starting to feel dizzy with all these crazy turns. 

“Hell yeah, I want to be a guardian! He exclaimed delightfully. 

“That means we would have to reveal our identities.”

“Even better!” he almost shouted, excited at the potential for a future reveal. 

“Chat-”

“Before you start with the whole safety thing, just because we know who we are doesn’t mean we’re announcing it to the world. It’ll be just between us and the kwamis.” Chat explained thoughtfully. 

“I mean yes, there’s that and that’s true, but the one thing Master Fu stressed over all else was that we could not reveal our identities,” Ladybug said with a note of self-directed frustration. 

“Master Fu isn't the guardian anymore,” Chat muttered peevishly. 

He understood where the old man was coming from, and maybe it was important back in the olden days, but living in this time Chat only saw pros with knowing who they were. In times of emergencies, they could quickly call each other. If one was out of the country, like he tended to be sometimes, they could tell each other so they were prepared in case there was an Akuma attack. They could work together in their civilian lives too, deepen their bonds to become partners in the truest sense. Work together to finally catch Hawkmoth and defeat him once and for all. 

He couldn’t see anything wrong with that. 

“True, but… Tikki has always agreed with him. She’s the toughest one to convince.” 

_ Ah, there’s the hesitation,  _ Adrien thought, understanding Ladybug’s worry. 

“Then I'll convince her! I’ll argue my case until she sees that not knowing who we are is just plain stupid,” he grinned. Ladybug giggled, a short burst of noise that made him laugh too. 

“There’s also…” she trailed off, withdrawing a little into herself. “I know it’s stupid, but if I’m not who you expect to be, you’ll be disappointed.”

“That’s absolute crap and you know it,” Chat said vehemently. “Spots or no spots, you are the same person. Still the same selfless, kind, amazing person that I had the pleasure of getting to know and proud to call one of my closest, best friends. I would never be disappointed in you Ladybug, regardless of who you are.”

Ladybug looked up at him. Their eyes met, hers glistening a little with unshed tears. He hoped his were glowing with how much he meant by his words. He didn’t care who she was. She would still be his bugaboo, his partner, and his best friend. 

“Revealing our identities and asking for help won’t change the fact that you will be a great guardian Ladybug. I’ll prove it to Tikki and I’ll prove it to Plagg and I’ll even hunt down Master Fu and prove it to him too,” Chat said, determined to put her insecurities to rest. Ladybug was the greatest gift to mankind. He would shout it from the rooftops if he had to. 

“Master Fu doesn’t remember being the guardian anymore,” she responded with a sad note. 

“Don’t care. I’ll convince him and anyone I have to that you will be the best guardian in history and that regardless of  _ who _ you are, you ARE the best Ladybug there ever was,” he finished proudly. 

Ladybug was quiet for a moment, though she looked humble and content to hear those words. She took another deep exhale, raising her chin to the sky. 

“Well, I guess my first act as guardian could be to get rid of some outdated rules,” she said softly. 

Chat’s heart started beating a little faster. Was this actually happening? He was finally going to see who was under the red mask? In the back of his mind, he saw a flash of Marinette’s beautiful face. His sweet Marinette who he felt so closely resembled Ladybug. If his best friend and his love were the same person…

_ No Chat, don’t think like that!  _ he scolded himself. 

It didn’t matter if she was Marinette, or Alya, or even Chloe! He would accept her for who she was, no matter what. He sat still, hoping she wouldn’t notice him trembling a little with excitement. She saw it right through him and rolled her eyes. 

“You can tell me how excited you are, Chaton,” Ladybug said dryly.

“There are just no words to express it, my lady,” he said, chuckling sheepishly. 

“You sure you wanna do this?” she asked again. 

“Surer than I’ve ever been about anything in my life,” he replied resolutely. 

She hummed again but nodded. Since he was still transformed, and he could see perfectly well in the dark, he saw the rapid switch of emotions in her eyes. He saw how she bit her lip worriedly, then shifted to sit in a more comfortable position. She was so open now and Chat was so relieved that he could  _ see _ her again. 

“Ready?” Ladybug asked, her small voice making him jump out of his thoughts.

“Ready,” Chat nodded, sitting still and smiling broadly at her. 

Ladybug hesitated for one more second, then called off her transformation. 

There was a blast of pink light that encompassed her. It almost blinded him with how bright it was, but it was gone seconds later and Chat blinked the spots from his eyes and focused ahead. His mouth fell open, his cat green eyes went wide, even his ears and tail perked up wildly, going straight with shock. 

“Marinette?!” he cried out, a little louder than he meant to.

“Shhh!” Marinette scolded him, reaching out as if to clamp her hands over his mouth.

Marinete was Ladybug. Ladybug was Marinette. LADYBUG WAS MARINETTE.

“Holy shit…” he choked out, his throat closing with emotion. He reached out and pinched her cheek lightly.

“Hey!” she exclaimed, batting his hand away. Then he pinched his own cheek, the only area of skin available to his touch. He pinched it harder than he pinched her and the sting of pain made him realize it wasn’t a dream. This was real. This was...

“Oh…” he barely felt the tears that started to roll down his eyes. He didn’t know why he was crying. He was happy, surprised, relieved, excited and so much more. Sure, he had a boatload of questions and their dynamic was going to shift  _ dramatically,  _ but this was happy news. 

_ No… I know why, _ he thought sadly. It was due to the hurt he had unintentionally caused the two most important people in his life, even if they were technically the same person. He remembered every instance where she looked off into the distance, her lips curled with sadness. The way she never talked about Chat Noir when they were hanging out, when before she would tease him and praise him to her friends. 

He also remembered how she adamantly avoided anything he invited her to hang out with him and Kagami. The stuttered excuses. The frustrated, longing gazes. He saw all her hesitation with new eyes and he grit his teeth at his own stupidity. Why was he so damn oblivious? Adrien was the boy she loved back then just like he was the boy she loved now! He was also the reason why she felt alone and afraid. How could he have missed that?

Through his inaction, he had hurt both Marinette and Ladybug. And the thought made him feel like curling into a ball and fading away. 

Still, even though his nerves thrummed with his past mistakes, his heart was stuffed full with joy and relief. Marinette was Ladybug, which meant he had befriended the same person twice. Could mold the two special places in his heart into one solid shape. He almost laughed when he realized he had fallen in love with the same woman twice too. 

He had a type indeed. 

At least he had time now to make up for his inaction in the past. As if he even had a choice. He was determined to make it up to her for as long as he lived. 

“Chat...” Marinette stammered his name, wringing her hands together, “I’m sorry, we shouldn't have done this. I knew this would happen-”

“NO!” he cried out. He rubbed at his eyes quickly, gathering himself. Just because he wasn’t able to control his emotions, though he was shocked almost to the point of trauma, didn’t mean he had to make Marinette worry and fret. He wanted  _ no _ misunderstandings between them, especially now. 

“No no no, that’s not it Ladyb-Marinette, that’s not it at all. Just…holy crap, you’re Ladybug.”

He cleared his throat, composing himself and wiping away the rest of his tears. 

“These are good tears princess,” he said softly, watching as she softened a little at his precious nickname, “I swear. Honestly, a part of me was secretly hoping it was you.”

“Really?” Marinette gasped. “Why? Do we know each other?”

_ Oh, we know each other _ he chuckled internally, remembering their soft kiss. 

“Guess you’ll find out soon,” he said smugly and promptly called for his detransformation, feeling the magic course through his skin until it stopped and left him in his regular civilian clothes sitting in front of his love.

He wasn’t sure what he expected. Squeals of joy? Maybe a little praise? A tight hug followed by a long overdue kiss? Really, anything other than cold silence. He definitely didn’t expect the way she froze as if hit by an ice spell. Her muscles and joints locked together, her eyes wider than he had ever seen. He could almost see the gears turning in her mind, disbelief clear in the way her eyebrows almost met her hairline. She looked as if someone had told her she was the long-lost daughter of some king of a faraway land. 

Or like she just found out her boyfriend was also her crime-fighting partner. 

Was it really that shocking though?

He really tried not to worry or feel offended by the lasting silence, but something needed to be said. Even he didn’t last this long not saying anything. However, before he could break the silence, she unwound from her comatose state and her lips curled into a horrified grimace.

“Shit!” she cursed loudly. 

Well. What could he really say to that?

“I’m sorry?” he said, not really sure why he was apologizing, but feeling like he should. 

“No! No, that wasn’t to you! Not at all!” Marinette cried out, grabbing his arm tightly. 

“Oh okay, phew. Had me worried for a moment there,” Adrien laughed breathlessly. 

“Not you, not you! Sorry! I’m sorry!” Marinette apologized profusely, getting more hysterical as the seconds passed.

“Hey, it’s ok. It’s ok! Mari, breathe. You gotta breathe!” Adrien grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eye. 

“Breathe,” he said firmly, taking a deep breath in and out until Marinette followed his instruction. They continued the exercise he had learned for his own panic attacks until Marinette was visibly calmer, her shoulders drooping under his palms. He rubbed them firmly, comforting her. 

“You okay?” he asked, reaching up to brush a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. 

Marinette nodded, putting the back of her hands to her cheeks. 

“Did I seriously almost have a panic attack?” she giggled nervously.

“I think so,” Adrien giggled as well, but with more concern. “What happened?”

“I...I thought back to everything that happened and I dunno. I just… panicked. I tried to make friends with the same guy I just told to leave me the hell alone and like what? How? Not only that, it’s  _ you.  _ In a good way! But like, what are the  _ chances _ ?” she asked herself incredulously. 

Adrien chuckled again, a bit more relieved. It was true. The statistical probabilities of them being the chosen heroes in a city filled with millions of people were astronomical. 

“Ladybug has been sitting behind me in class for months,” Adrien snorted, realizing just how ridiculous their lives were. 

“Oh my GOD. Adrien Agreste has been flirting with me for  _ years!! _ ” Marinette exclaimed, her voice ringing in the church room. 

“Thank you for finally noticing,” Adrien grinned and laughed when Marinette punched his shoulder. 

She looked like she wanted to say something else, but stopped. She was looking at his hair, her brows furrowed curiously. She reached up and ruffled his hair, creating the windswept look that was a dead-giveaway to his other persona. He watched her silently stop for a second, then slip her small, soft hand to brush her fingers through his locks. 

“Mon Minou,” she sighed, curling her fingers deep in his hair. “I should have known it was you. Who else shares such an awful taste in puns.”

“Hey…” he pouted, “you like my puns and you know it.”

Marinette giggled, “I will neither confirm nor deny such slanderous statements.”

He giggled. Then she giggled some more and then they both fell into each other, breathless laughs escaping their chest and warming the area around them. 

“What does this mean for us now?” he asked, wondering. Marinette was in love with Adrien, but she had never expressed anything other than friendship for Chat. 

He had to keep reminding himself that they were the same person. 

“First, I’m going to continue to beat myself up for hurting you,” she said firmly.

“That’s not necessary,” he started but was interrupted by a hard glare.

“Yes,  _ it is.  _ I hurt you Adrien and that’s not okay. But I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” she smiled, her hand cupping his cheek. He wanted to argue, wanted to tell her there was no need, but he resigned himself to her. After all, he had his own vows to uphold. It was only fair she could keep hers. 

“That’s fine, but what about  _ us, _ ” he implored, stressing what he meant. Were they still...

“That’s on you. You see,  _ you  _ kissed  _ me.  _ Twice now and haven't even asked the most important question,” Marinette teased.

Adrien grinned widely, heart running in overdrive. He settled himself formally in front of her, taking one hand in his. 

“Bugaboo, princess, my lady,  _ my Marinette _ ...will you be my girlfriend?”

She had tears in her eyes as she nodded vigorously and he was sure he had tears in his eyes too when he pulled her to him for a loving, promising kiss. 

“I don’t care whether you’re Adrien Agreste or Chat Noir. It’ll take a bit of adjusting, ok more than a bit, but please know that you’ll always be  _ my _ Adrien, my love, and my best friend. No matter what,” Marinette whispered lovingly and Adrien closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath to try and control his heart. He loved this woman so much. 

“I love you, Marinette,” he sighed against her lips. Marinette giggled and smiled at him so lovingly he vowed from that point forward, he would do everything in his power to make sure she was truly happy for the rest of their lives. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading!! If I had to pick one ship out of the square, it would be LadyNoir as my preference, but what I enjoy the most are their friendship and trust. I LOVED exploring their relationship in a platonic view, how even though they hurt each other, they bounced back because they are close friends and care for each other deeply. It made it a challenge because, as well all know, Mari and Adrien are in a romantic relationship and they are all the same people. But I hope I did justice with healing the cracks of LB/CN's relationship while keeping it platonic and showing that after the reveal, though they are confused and know things are gonna change, they still love each other. Both as best friends AND romantic partners. 
> 
> Let me know your thoughts! :D I have a small epilogue I'm posting right after, then this story will be complete!
> 
> Side note - Punning is hard as hell. lol let me know what you thought of my atrocious attempt at it :D


	11. Chapter 11

_ 8 months later _

Deep in the heart of the city, on the third floor of a large apartment building, a two-bedroom apartment was filled to the brim with people. Music boomed through its open windows, blasting techno beats and the occasional rock. It was still early evening and while Adrien hoped the music wasn’t too loud and bothersome to his new neighbors, he was determined to have as much fun as possible. 

He stepped out of his, (HIS!), new kitchen, a tray of cheese, bread, and meats balanced on one arm and another tray of party goods consisting of croissants, veggies with dip, and some fruits. He brought it quickly to the food table Kim had set up earlier, joining the already cornucopia of food that filled each square inch of the table. He dipped his head towards Max, who was having an animated conversation with Nathaniel about the latest tech, the other boy nodding absently and passed by Kim and Alix, who were currently in the midst of a food competition of who could eat the most sausages in twenty minutes. 

As he placed the trays down, he searched for his girlfriend. Marinette kept her word and after Adrien managed to secure an apartment, she threw him the wildest housewarming party she could. He saw his classmates and friends, their friends, and even some people he could swear were just random strangers. Possibly fans? His eyes roved over the crowd and saw a head of wild, curly, auburn hair near the door to his bedroom. Wherever Alya was, Marinette usually wasn’t far behind. So he picked his way through the crowd, stopping to say hello or chat for a second before continuing on. He reached Alya and found that Marinette actually wasn’t with her and he pouted, wondering where in the world his girlfriend ran off to. 

“Hey there, sunshine,” Alya greeted him with a two fingered salute.

“Hey, Alya. Have you seen Marinette?” Adrien asked. 

“Last I saw she was talking to Kagami about something,” Alya shrugged, pointing in the general direction of the living room. He opened his mouth to thank her when he was suddenly tackled from behind. 

“Bro!” Nino cried out, his best bro giving him a fierce hug. “Greatest party ever, yeah?”

Adrien laughed, “With those beats, how could it not be?”

Nino preened at Adrien’s praise and Alya snorted. 

“Have you seen Marinette?” Adrien asked Nino.

Nino nodded, “I saw her leave with Kagami. Maybe they’re getting more party stuff.”

Adrien hummed. Both girls had surprisingly become very close friends, despite Kagami’s previous romantic interest in him. Although, thinking about it really wasn’t that surprising. Marinette had the ability to be friends with  _ anyone.  _ It helped that both girls had a lot in common and Marinette was over the moon when she finally had someone to talk to about their Asian heritage and another girl to invite to girl's night. He wondered where they had gone to when he saw Nino glance at his phone and start to walk away. 

“Be right back bro!” he shouted and waved.

Adrien watched him return to his booth and start lowering the music. He turned to Alya, noticing the smirk on her face, and realized he had been had. 

“What’s going on?” he demanded, facing his friend. Alya just shrugged and grinned. 

His front door opened and someone called out Marinette’s name. She had returned and his eyes widened when he saw she had returned with a huge, familiar box. He walked forward, meeting them closer to the door. 

“We can’t have a party without cake right!” Marinette laughed, joined by Kagami who was helping her carry the box on the other side. 

“Marinette told me her father went all out on this gift. I am excited to see what is inside,” Kagami said in her usual soft voice. 

“Marinette, you didn’t have to do this,” Adrien said, though he was happy that she did. She gave him a beaming smile and shrugged her one shoulder. 

“I know,” she said cheekily. “Doesn’t mean I didn’t wanna.”

He joined the ladies, helping them carry the surprisingly heavy box to the dining table. At her persistence, he opened the box carefully and it revealed a four-tiered cake. The bottom two layers were covered in delicious white buttercream frosting, hidden behind a wall of pastel, colorful, flavorful macarons. The top two layers were also frosted, with small fondant gift boxes scattered throughout. He looked at the top, where there was a small black cat with green dots for its eyes sprawled over a short and heart-warming message.

‘ _ Welcome Home Adrien’ _

“Welcome home, Adrien!” his party members all shouted at once, cheering and celebrating his newfound freedom. He looked at them all, smiling widely at them, and looked down at Marinette, who was grinning so proudly he wondered how anyone could think she wasn’t Ladybug. 

“Welcome home, Adrien,” she gushed, wrapping her arms around his arm. He hugged her tightly to him, his cheeks burning with the force of his smile. 

“Thank you.”

-

After the last guest had left Adrien let out a sigh of relief. The party had gone on well into the night, much later than he imagined, but he didn’t want to be the party pooper and kick them out, even if he was a little tired and worried about _ getting _ kicked out.

Alya was the one who finally put her foot down and practically forced Nino to stop the music. Slowly after that, everyone left. Not before giving Adrien their well-wishes and some occasional house-warming gifts. He swore to send them pics once he opened them. He swept the floor along with Nino and Ivan, who had agreed to stay behind to help clean up. Alya, Marinette, and Mylene were on kitchen duty. 

“That was the best party ever,” Nino gushed. 

“It was! I had a lot of fun!” Ivan said, more energized than usual. 

“That’s great guys. I’m so happy you had a good time!” Adrien said happily. 

They finished cleaning up the living and dining room right as the girls left the kitchen. 

“Alright, kitchen is cleaner than a new hospital room!” Alya cried out, hands on her hips. 

“Weird analogy, but ok,” Adrien commented. “Thanks again for sticking around to help clean up.”

“It was no problem. Thank you for inviting us to your party!” Mylene said softly, also more energized than usual. He was happy he was able to provide a good time. They left after, Nino and Alya vowing to return next week for game night, a new tradition he demanded they start, and finally, it was just him and Marinette. 

“I’m exhausted,” Marinette groaned, stretching an arm behind her head. Adrien stared shamelessly as her chest arched forward, making her assets more pronounced. He wiggled his eyebrows playfully at her glare. 

“It’s about time they left!” Plagg, who had graciously decided not to interrupt the festivities in exchange for an extortionate amount of cheese, flew into the living room. Right behind him was Tikki, who crossed her little arms and gave Plagg a look. 

“You were sleeping the whole time.”

“Yea, but their chatter wasn’t letting me dream,” Plagg drawled. 

Tikki shook her head fondly. 

Tikki had taken to their reveal surprisingly well. After his fateful third kiss with the love of his life the small deities, who had given them a moment of privacy, had come out to introduce themselves. Marinette got to meet Plagg, who she cooed over and gave soft pets that had the cat god purring in delight. And Adrien got to meet Tikki. He stared, awed by the small, red god, and tried to get his tongue to work properly in order to defend Marinette’s decision to unveil their identities. Turned out he didn’t have to. Tikki had given him a delightful smile, then a headbutt to the cheek which he took to mean that he was officially in. 

He wondered if Tikki was ok with the reveal because  _ he _ was Chat Noir and hoped that meant she trusted him the same way she trusted Marinette to be a responsible guardian of the miraculous. On the other hand, maybe she just missed her other half and wanted to be reunited, their affectionate bards and taunts to each other a joy to see and hear. He often thought about asking her but didn’t want to ruin the relationship that was developing between them. He had gotten to know Tikki as well as Plagg now and loved her just as much as his stinky best friend. He chuckled when he remembered Tikki and Marinette arguing about something a few days ago and Tikki choosing to stay with him instead of her. Marinette was outraged and Adrien could only laugh while cuddling the small God to his neck.

“Ready for bed?” Adrien asked Marinette, taking her hand in his. She nodded absently, then gasped. 

“Wait!” she ran off into their shared office, which he had attempted to divide, half for Marinttet’s work and half for his studies. Her fabric supplies ended up taking the whole room, leaving him picking through pieces of cloth and silk on various occasions. He didn’t mind at all. 

“Come in Adrien!” he heard Marinette shout from their room. 

Puzzled, Adrien gathered the arguing Kwamis in his palms gently and placed them on his shoulders before walking toward their second room. He heard Plagg grumble a bit and Tikki let out a tinkling giggle, but they settled down, leaning into him. He walked through the doorway and, as per usual, the room was bursting with color, but there was an open box where Marinette’s sewing machine usually sat. It was unusual to present a gift in an open box, so he was really curious as to what it was. 

“I got you something. Well, I guess you could say I got  _ us _ something, but it’s really a present for you,” Marinette said bashfully. She indicated to the open box and he stepped forward, peering inside. 

Curled on top of a warm, black wool blanket was a cat. A small cat, possibly a kitten. It was a little black kitten, with tiny ears and little whiskers that twitched slightly as she slept, its small body moving up and down slowly. 

“You got us a cat?” Adrien asked, disbelief and joy coloring his words. 

“Mhm!” Marinette nodded, “You said the first thing you would get when you moved out was a pet. Well, here she is!”

Plagg floated down towards the kitten, his body moving side to side as he inspected the creature. At its presence, the kitten woke up slowly and gave Plagg a lazy blink. Adrien noticed her eyes were shiny gold. Plagg grinned. 

“She’s perfect!” he said, already making his home next to the small kitten. 

Adrien stared down at the animal. Looking down at his new companion reminded him of his father. The last time they had spoken was a month ago from today when he had told him he was moving out. His father adamantly refused, demanding he stay in the Agreste manor. But Adrien couldn’t stay there anymore, stifled and trapped under his father’s thumb. They had argued for a while until Adrien finally gave up, gathered his things, and walked out. The last thing he heard his father say was the hurtful truth that if he left, he would disown him. Adrien slammed the door on his father and didn’t look back. 

“Hey, you ok?” Adrien turned his head to the side. Marinette had grasped his shoulder lightly, giving him a concerned look. 

“I miss him,” he finally admitted after a moment of silence. He tried to suppress the sadness that came up whenever he thought about his father. Gabriel Agreste was a cold, calculating man who cared only about results and as an adult now, Adrien could admit he was a terrible dad, but he was HIS dad and the only family he had left. 

When he stopped running, finally reaching the only place he could think of for comfort, drenched from the burst of rain and carrying three heavy duffel bags, the Dupain-Chengs did not even hesitate to let him into their home. They had given him warm, sweet hot chocolate, fixed their living room into a space for him until he got his bearings. Marinette had understood his conflicting feelings, she had always understood him. She didn’t yell at his father or rationalize him, just soothed him as he cried late into the night in Marinette’s arms until he passed out, relieved to have found a new, loving family and sorrowful to have lost his own.

“I know,” she breathed into his chest, holding onto him tightly. “But he’ll come around. I know he will. He loves you, in his own way. He'll see that this is for the best. For both of you.” 

He didn't respond, watching the little kitten as she started to wake up and gave a tiny, high-pitched mewl. 

“Uh, hello! She’s hungry people, let’s get her some food!” Plagg demanded. Leave it to Plagg to always brighten the room with his attitude. Adrien shook away his melancholy-filled thoughts and grinned, pressing a kiss to Marinette’s soft hair. 

“Do we have anything for her?” he asked and she nodded, stepping aside to bring out another box full of kitty supplies. Together they went through the stuff, laughing when the kitten started meowing at them nonstop until a small bowl of milk was placed next to her. 

“What should we call her?” Tikki asked from her porch on Marinette’s hair. She had moved when Plagg had left to cuddle with the kitten and stared at Adrien with wide, knowing blue eyes. 

“Emilie,” Adrien said immediately. He glanced at Marinette, who gave him a tooth-bearing smile of approval and two thumbs up. 

He finally had what he always wanted; freedom in the form of his own space, friends, and family who cared for him unconditionally and one raven-haired magnificent woman who loved him just as much as he loved her. He wondered if tomorrow was too soon to ask her to marry him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading my first Miraculous fanfic! I sincerely appreciate all of your comments and time and I hope you all had a good time with this story. I have a couple of ideas for more stories, however, they will be higher in rating. It's weird, but it's hard writing stuff appropriate for a Teen rating lmao
> 
> (i had to stop myself from writing f**k like a billion times :D)
> 
> Anyways, if you are interested it should be out in a month or so. Still getting the kinks out. I'll be challenging myself with writing a mystery. Wish me luck! lol 
> 
> Let me know your thoughts on Two Sides of the Same Coin! Thank you!!


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